Editing Waynesville, North Carolina (section)

==History==
The town of Waynesville was founded in 1810 by Colonel [[Robert Love (soldier)|Robert Love]], a [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] soldier. He donated land for the courthouse, jail, and public square, and named the town after his former commander in the war, General [["Mad" Anthony Wayne]].

The [[Boone-Withers House]], [[Citizens Bank and Trust Company Building, Former]], [[Francis Grist Mill]], [[Frog Level Historic District]], [[Haywood County Courthouse (Waynesville, North Carolina)|Haywood County Courthouse]], [[Alden and Thomasene Howell House]], [[Gateway Club (Waynesville, North Carolina)|Masonic Hall]], [[Charles and Annie Quinlan House]], [[Clyde H. Ray Sr. House]], [[Frank Smathers House]], [[Spread Out Historic District]], [[US Post Office Building, Former (Waynesville, North Carolina)|Waynesville Municipal Building]], [[Dr. J. Howell Way House]], and [[Waynesville Main Street Historic District (Waynesville, North Carolina)|Waynesville Main Street Historic District]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref><ref name="nps">{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/listings/20110107.htm|title=National Register of Historic Places Listings|date=2011-01-07|work=Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 12/27/10 through 12/30/10|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref><ref name="nps1">{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/13000227.htm|title=National Register of Historic Places Listings|date=2013-02-27|work=NRHP Featured Property|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>

Waynesville was incorporated as a town in 1871. In July 1995, the towns of [[Hazelwood, North Carolina|Hazelwood]] and Waynesville merged into one community and continued to grow with a population today of over 10,000.

===The "Battle" of Waynesville===
Waynesville was the scene of the last and perhaps most unusual skirmish in the eastern theater of the [[American Civil War]]. On May 6, 1865, Union Colonel William C. Bartlett's 2nd North Carolina (Federal) [[Mounted Infantry]] were attacked at White Sulphur Springs (east of Waynesville) by a detachment of rebels from [[Thomas' Legion|Thomas' Legion of Highlanders]], who had been summoned by locals.

[[Eastern United States|East of the Mississippi]], Thomas' Legion fired "The Last Shot" of the Civil War in [[White Sulphur Springs, North Carolina]]. The Legion consisted of [[Cherokee]] and White soldiers. Some of these soldiers had served under [[Jubal A. Early]] during the Shenandoah [[Valley Campaigns of 1864]], but had been sent back to their native North Carolina mountains to engage in guerrilla warfare against the remaining Union forces.

The disoriented Union soldiers retreated into Waynesville, and on the evening of May 6 remaining elements of Thomas' Legion surrounded the town. The soldiers lit numerous bonfires on the ridges above the town and engaged in war chants in an effort to intimidate the Federals. The following day the Confederate commanders Gen. James Green Martin and Col. [[William Holland Thomas]] (for whom the Legion was named) negotiated a surrender. These commanders had been made aware that Generals [[Robert E. Lee]] and [[Joseph E. Johnston]] had already surrendered and that continued hostilities would prove pointless.

==={{anchor|Frog Level}}Frog Level===
[[Image:WaynesvilleDepot.jpg|thumb|Waynesville Train Depot in Frog Level, c. 1890s]]

Waynesville began to see development after arrival of the [[Murphy Branch|railroad]] in 1884. The agricultural, lumber and tourism industries in Waynesville and Haywood County began to thrive as access to the west was opened up.

The area of Waynesville located along Richland Creek, northwest and downhill from Main Street, was where the railroad tracks were laid. Until this time the area had been essentially a swampland, with a few scattered buildings but no major development. Once the depot was built and the train arrived this section was developed. It was given the name of "Frog Level" by the local community because of its low-lying location along Richland Creek, the "frog level" when the area flooded.

Downtown and the nearby Frog Level commercial centers of Waynesville continued to be the central focus for social life, transportation, and wholesale and retail businesses through the 1940s. Businesses in the Frog Level area in the 1930s and 1940s included hardware stores, farm supplies, coal sales, auto dealers and garages, furniture stores, wholesale groceries, and warehouses and lumber companies, all of which were businesses dependent on the railroad.

As the automobile became the primary mode of transportation for most residents, the railroad declined in importance. This in turn led to a shift of business away from Frog Level. The last passenger train arrived in Waynesville in 1949, and freight trains pass through Frog Level twice daily, with most trains continuing on to [[Sylva, North Carolina|Sylva]].

By the 1980s, the railroad in Waynesville had been integrated into the Southern Railway Company system. The first depot burned in 1900, but it was soon replaced with another depot that remained standing until 1987.