Fayetteville History & Heritage

Fayetteville is far more than a modern military town. Long before paratroopers and special operators trained at Fort Liberty, this bend of the Cape Fear River served as a trading hub, political crossroads, and industrial center for North Carolina. Understanding the city today means understanding how those layers of history stack on top of each other.

This guide walks through Fayetteville's major historical eras and points you to the places where you can still see that story in person.

Indigenous roots and Scottish settlement

The Cape Fear region has been inhabited for thousands of years. Long before European colonists arrived, Siouan speaking peoples lived along the river, hunting, farming, and trading along routes that roughly correspond to modern highways.

In the mid 1700s, waves of Scottish Highlanders traveled up the Cape Fear River and settled in what would become Cumberland County. Many were Gaelic speakers fleeing political and economic pressures at home. They established two key settlements:

• Cross Creek, a trading community located a bit upstream from the river landing
• Campbellton, closer to the river itself and focused on commercial shipping

Merchants moved goods like naval stores, wheat, and lumber downriver to Wilmington, which connected Fayetteville to Atlantic trade routes.

Fayetteville is born and embraces liberty

In 1783, after the American Revolution, Cross Creek and Campbellton merged and incorporated as a single town named Fayetteville in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who fought alongside George Washington.

Fayetteville holds two unique distinctions in that story:

• It was the first American town named for Lafayette
• It is the only one he actually visited during his triumphal tour of the United States in 1825

The town also played an outsized role in the early push for independence. The Liberty Point Resolves of 1775, signed by local patriots, pledged resistance to British rule a year before the Declaration of Independence. A historical marker downtown commemorates this act of defiance.

Constitutional crossroads and early state politics

After the Revolution, North Carolina had not yet established a permanent capital. The General Assembly met in multiple towns, and Fayetteville served repeatedly as a legislative venue.

The most significant session occurred in November 1789, when delegates met here and voted to ratify the United States Constitution, making North Carolina the twelfth state to join the Union. During that same period, legislators also chartered the University of North Carolina system, laying groundwork for the country's oldest public university.

Today, you can trace this era by visiting:

• Liberty Point and other downtown markers
• The Market House site, which stands where the earlier State House once sat

The Great Fire of 1831 and rebuilding

On a windy May night in 1831, fire tore through Fayetteville, destroying more than 600 buildings including the State House, churches, and schools. The disaster forced the city to rebuild almost from scratch, creating a relatively unified architectural layer that still defines much of the downtown core.

Out of that rebuilding came the current Market House, finished in the 1830s as a combined town hall and open air market. Its arches and clock tower remain one of Fayetteville's most recognizable silhouettes, and its complicated role in both civic life and the history of slavery is explored in more depth in our dedicated Market House guide.

Arsenal, industry, and the Civil War

Recognizing Fayetteville's strategic position at the head of navigation on the Cape Fear River, Congress authorized construction of a U S Arsenal here in 1838. The facility produced small arms and ammunition, turning the town into an important industrial node.

When North Carolina seceded from the Union, local militia seized the arsenal for the Confederacy. That decision made the city a target during General William T Sherman's 1865 march through the Carolinas. His army entered Fayetteville in March, used the arsenal as headquarters, and then systematically destroyed it before moving north.

The ruins of the arsenal are preserved as part of the Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex, where interpretive panels and trails tell the story of the Civil War's impact on the region.

From river town to rail and road hub

After the war, Fayetteville continued to function as a regional market and transport center. Railroads like the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley line linked local producers to wider markets, and plank roads and early highways connected the city to inland farms and coastal ports.

You can explore this economic and transportation history at the Fayetteville Area Transportation and Local History Museum, located in the restored 1890 Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad Depot. Exhibits there trace the evolution from riverboats and plank roads to trains and automobiles.

Camp Bragg, Fort Liberty, and the modern military era

The twentieth century transformed Fayetteville again. In 1918, the Army established Camp Bragg on the sandy pine lands northwest of town as an artillery training ground. Advocates successfully argued to keep the post active after World War One, and over the decades it expanded into one of the largest military installations in the world.

From World War Two through the Cold War and into the present day, the base now known as Fort Bragg or Fort Liberty has hosted airborne units, special operations forces, and major Army commands. The constant cycle of training, deployments, and returns has shaped everything from the local economy to the city's culture and dining scene.

Downtown, the Airborne and Special Operations Museum and North Carolina Veterans Park together tell this modern chapter, honoring the soldiers whose stories are woven into Fayetteville's streets.

Where to experience Fayetteville's history today

To turn this overview into a self guided heritage tour, consider visiting:

• Historical Sites: For a curated list of key landmarks and districts
• Market House: To understand both the city's civic ambitions and its painful history of slavery
• 1897 Poe House and Museum of the Cape Fear: For a look at New South domestic life and regional history
• Airborne and Special Operations Museum: For the airborne era that reshaped the city
• North Carolina Veterans Park: For a contemplative space linking all 100 counties

Fayetteville's story is one of repeated reinvention. From a river landing for Scottish traders to a burned and rebuilt Civil War town, from an arsenal city to a global defense hub, the community has absorbed shocks and adapted. Walking its streets today, you can still see traces of every era.