The Cliff Creek community was settled in the early 1800’s according to one source and after the Civil War according to another. The general location covers an area 6 to 9 miles east of Brownsville between Mercer Road (State Highway 19) and Cliff Creek Road.

The first settlers in the area were mostly from North Carolina families and bore the following surnames: Clement, Coburn, Forrest, Mann, Shaw, Stokely, and Whitelaw. In the late 1800’s families by the names of Austin, Bond, Boteler, Darnaby, Farrington, Garrett, Hooper, Houston, Johnson, King, Medlin and West were in the area. (Some of these Surnames, if not all, will be found in the Surname listing of the Haywood County History, 1989.)

Cliff Creek School, known as Hopewell, was built in the 1870’s on Cliff Creek Road. The Cliff Creek Church of Christ also met here.

Stores during the late 1800’s included two on Cliff Creek Road about a mile south of Coburn Road. One was owned by the Rogers family and the Stokely’s had a grist mile on the other side. Later, J. A. Stokely bought the store and grist mill. J. A. Stokely also had a steam operated cotton gin in the late 1800’s about 100 yards west of the present home of Pat Glidewell on Coburn Road.

During the same period a Mr. Shaw had a mule powered gin on the present-day William Walker Farm “Reklaw.” And on the present Gorman Farm, Major Mac Shaw had an icehouse. One source says his slaves cut pond ice during the winter, packed it in sawdust and preserved it until hot weather. If this is true the date would be earlier than late 1800. He also was said to have given ice to the families who were sick with malaria – and this is believable as all the families in the Cliff area and good people.