Canton

History

This area was long settled by succeeding Indigenous cultures. What is known as the archeological Garden Creek site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is located on the south side of the Pigeon River, approximately seven miles west of Canton. It was inhabited from 8000 BCE by successive cultures of Indigenous peoples. Villages were developed in the Middle Woodland (200-600 CE) and The Southeast Appalachian Mississippian culture (1000 to 1450/1500 CE) periods. The Cherokee people are the most recent Native Americans to occupy this area, which is part of their homelands in the western Carolinas, southeastern Tennessee, and northeastern Georgia. The Cherokee in Western North Carolina are known as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, a federally recognized tribe. The prehistoric peoples built a total of four earthwork mounds at the site. Three have been excavated, the last two platform mounds in the 1960s prior to residential development. European Americans did not begin to settle here until the late 1780s, following the American Revolutionary War, United States independence, and gaining cessions of land to the US by the Cherokee. By 1790, Jonathan McPeters was farming the banks of the Pigeon River at the site where Canton developed. Around 1815 the first church was built in what was to become Canton; it was called the Locust Old Field Baptist Church. "Old Field" often referred to areas cultivated or occupied by the Cherokee people, as this was known to be part of their traditional homelands. Canton was founded in 1889 as "Buford". Later that same year, the name was changed to "Vinson". The name was changed to "Pigeon Ford" in 1891, and to "Canton" in 1893. The town was named for Canton, Ohio, the source of the steel for the bridge that was built…

Geography

Canton is in east-central Haywood County, on both sides of the Pigeon River. U.S. Routes 19 and 23 pass through the center of town as Park Street and Main Street. The highways lead east to Asheville and west to Lake Junaluska. Interstate 40 passes through the northernmost part of Canton, with access from Exits 31 and 33. I-40 leads east to Asheville and northwest through the Pigeon River Gorge into Tennessee. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town of Canton has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  9,313
• Eastern Towhee

  Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,091
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  8,022
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,982
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  7,759
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  7,677
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,166
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  6,784

Largest nearby schools

• Pisgah High
  High · Canton · 927 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• Tuscola High
  High · Waynesville · 917 students · 15.8:1 ratio
• Waynesville Middle
  Middle · Waynesville · 720 students · 15:1 ratio
• Shining Rock Classical Academy
  Other · Waynesville · 604 students · 12.9:1 ratio
• Bethel Elementary
  Elementary · Canton · 526 students · 14.6:1 ratio
• Clyde Elementary
  Elementary · Clyde · 526 students · 12.8:1 ratio
• Canton Middle
  Middle · Canton · 449 students · 13.6:1 ratio
• Junaluska Elementary
  Elementary · Waynesville · 447 students · 14.9:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.65 — 2026-03-24
  10 km SSW of Dillsboro, North Carolina
• M 2.5 — 2025-08-19
  6 km SE of Seymour, Tennessee
• M 2.73 — 2025-08-14
  7 km N of Columbus, North Carolina
• M 2.51 — 2024-08-05
  4 km SSE of Sevierville, Tennessee
• M 2.51 — 2023-11-04
  7 km WSW of Bryson City, North Carolina
• M 3.24 — 2023-06-04
  4 km NNW of West Canton, North Carolina