{"nrhp_refnum":"75001250","name":"Clay County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hayesville","county":"Clay County","state":"NC","lat":35.04574673900004,"lon":-83.81783380399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-10-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Clay County Courthouse is a two-story brick vernacular Italianate Victorian courthouse with a front central tower, standing on a shaded square in Hayesville, the county seat of Clay County, North Carolina. It was built in 1887-1889.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the courthouse is a prominent landmark of the small mountain county seat and is of considerable local architectural and historical significance. Its exterior remains essentially unchanged, and it continues in use as a courthouse. The building is associated with the county's early government and its first permanent courthouse after the earlier building burned.","narrative":"Standing on a shaded square in Hayesville, the county seat of Clay County, North Carolina, the courthouse is a two-story brick building in the vernacular Italianate Victorian style. Its front central tower rises in wood above the brick lower stages, and its cross-gable roof carries molded brackets with scallop designs and acorn pendants. Built between 1887 and 1889, it was designed by W. G. Bulgin, who was also appointed architect and inspector of materials and work. J. S. Anderson held the construction contract for $7,240. The building replaced a makeshift arrangement that followed the 1870 fire that destroyed the first courthouse, when county offices and court sessions had been held in rented rooms in the Masonic Hall and the Presbyterian Church. Its exterior has changed little since construction, and it remains the working seat of county government.","period_of_significance":"1887-1889","architect_builder":"W. G. Bulgin (architect); J. S. Anderson (contractor)","architectural_style":"Vernacular Italianate Victorian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in use as a courthouse and office building","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:42.449474-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/38/7196/47719638/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/75001250.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001250/fc3842b713-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001250/fc3842b713-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clay_County_Courthouse_in_Hayesville,_main_entrance.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clay_County_Courthouse_in_Hayesville,_main_entrance.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719638","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_County_Courthouse_(North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16988031"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/clay-county/clay-county-courthouse-75001250/"}