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Every item links to its source; we checked them on Oct. 28. Times are Central. Read it on the web.
A note from the publisher It's Veterans Day week. On Saturday morning the square fills up for the Veteran Celebration, and this week's walking-tour stop is right there on the courthouse grounds: the 1957 War Memorial, which lists the local service members who died in service, with a later name from Iraq. Take the kids, read the names together, and if you see a veteran, say thank you. This week's civic spotlight is the county's Veterans Service Office. There's a new crossword, and last issue's answers are here too. As always, if we got something wrong or missed something, just reply.
Go explore
Take the Fayetteville walking tour. A self-guided loop around the courthouse square: 14 stops and about 2.8 miles, with a map, narrated audio and a source for every fact. Short on time? Stops 1-4 take about 30 minutes.
This week's stop
Monuments and Markers (Stop 2): For Veterans Day week, start at the War Memorial for Lincoln County and the City of Fayetteville, erected Oct. 7, 1957. It lists local service members who died in service, and it was sponsored by the American Legion and the VFW. Close by, the Revolutionary War Patriots Memorial, placed by the Kings Mountain Messenger Chapter NSDAR, lists Revolutionary War patriots who settled in Lincoln County. Every marker on the courthouse grounds says who placed it and when. These are memorials: read them, don't climb them. Saturday's Veteran Celebration will fill the square from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., so come early, or come back on a quieter day.
Kids' challenge: find the War Memorial and count the wars it names. Then hunt for the newest memorial on the courthouse grounds. What year does it say?
Finish the walk and a grown-up can send in the answers for a free History Explorer sticker and printable certificate. How to earn a sticker →
Sources: Our tour page, Stop 2 (citing the markers, via HMdb) · HMdb: War Memorial for Lincoln County and City of Fayetteville
Then and now
The Borden milk plant, 1927 and today (Stop 8)
Documented Borden built the plant in 1927 to turn local milk into butter and powdered milk. At its peak it had 75 employees and bought milk from more than 1,200 farmers, and during World War II it dried milk and eggs for the U.S. military. Today it is the Fayetteville-Lincoln County Museum, open Fridays and Saturdays.
Not known yet We don't have a photo of the plant while it was running. The closing date is disputed, too: the museum says Dec. 15, 1967; the Tennessee Encyclopedia gives 1962. Know better? Tell us
Ask a grandparent: did your family sell milk to the Borden plant, or work there? Then visit the museum this weekend and find out what's inside now.
Sources: Our tour page, Stop 8 (citing the museum and the Tennessee Encyclopedia) · Fayetteville-Lincoln County Museum
On your way, stop in at a shop or cafe on the square. Each tour stop lists what's nearby.
Send us your photo. Email it to hello@ourtownalmanac.com and tell us where you took it.
This week around town
Every item links to the organizer or an official page, checked Oct. 28. Plans change, so check before you go.
Happening this week
Friday, Nov. 6
All day
No school in Fayetteville City Schools (staff development day)
Fayetteville City Schools
The district calendar lists Friday as a no-school staff development day. Source: Fayetteville City Schools calendar (November 2026), checked Oct. 28.
Saturday, Nov. 7
9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Veteran Celebration on the Square
Fayetteville Town Square, Lincoln County Courthouse, 112 Main Ave. S.
Hosted by The Veterans of Lincoln County, TN, to honor all who served. Listed: guest speakers, the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance, food trucks, veteran organizations, military- and veteran-focused vendors, static military displays, and the Camp Blount cannon and reenactors. No cost is posted. Source: Elk Valley Times, Oct. 21, 2026, and the New Hats For Vets event listing (neither is the organizer's own page), checked Oct. 28.
Monday, Nov. 9
5-6 p.m.
Let's Learn Crochet, class 2 of 4
Fayetteville-Lincoln County Arts Center, 303 Main Ave. S., downstairs classroom. A $5 donation per class, or $20 for all four (Nov. 2, 9, 16 and 23).
RSVP required: call or text the instructor at (931) 257-2139. Bring a 5mm hook and size-4 yarn. Source: Arts Center events calendar, checked Oct. 28.
6-8 p.m.
Fayetteville Middle School basketball vs. Liberty (home)
FMS gym
Listed on the district calendar. Source: Fayetteville City Schools calendar (November 2026), checked Oct. 28.
Wednesday, Nov. 11
10 a.m.
Tiny Tales storytime (Veterans Day: call to confirm)
Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library, 306 Elk Ave. N. (children's area)
A weekly Wednesday story and craft; all ages welcome. The library asks families to sign up in advance at the library or by phone. Its November calendar wasn't posted when we checked, and Nov. 11 is Veterans Day, so call (931) 433-3286 before you go. Source: Library's Tiny Tales storytime page, checked Oct. 28.
Thursday, Nov. 12
5:30-7:30 p.m.
Crafting Club
Fayetteville-Lincoln County Arts Center, 303 Main Ave. S.; Free ($2-$5 donation requested)
Bring your own project and materials, per the Arts Center's listing. Source: Arts Center events calendar, checked Oct. 28.
Open this week
Warrior Exhibit: honoring Lincoln County veterans
113 Main Ave. N.. Tue.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (posted hours). Free. Call (931) 993-8353.
Source: Warrior Exhibit page, linked from the Lincoln County Veterans Service Office, checked Oct. 28.
Fayetteville-Lincoln County Museum
521 S. Main Ave.. Fri. Nov. 6 and Sat. Nov. 7, 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (posted May-November hours). Tours are free, given by volunteer docents. The museum may close for weather, so call (931) 297-2450 to check.
Source: Museum website, checked Oct. 28.
Public meetings
Tue. Nov. 10, 5 p.m.
Fayetteville Board of Mayor and Aldermen, with a public hearing on a C-3 zoning update
Auditorium, Fayetteville Municipal Building, 110 Elk Ave. S.
The city's notice says the board will hold a public hearing on an ordinance amending Zoning Ordinance Section 14-606.3 (C-3 General Commercial District). Copies are available at the Planning & Codes Department. Agenda not posted yet (as of Oct. 28); check the city's BMA agenda page.
Not this week:
Lincoln County Commission: No meeting posted for Nov. 6-12 (the latest posted is Oct. 20; the commission meets on the 3rd Tuesday). Source
Lincoln County Board of Education: Met Nov. 2; the next meeting listed is Dec. 7. Source
Fayetteville Municipal Planning Commission and Public Utilities Board: The city's boards page lists the Planning Commission on the 4th Tuesday (Nov. 24) and the Utilities Board on the 4th Wednesday (Nov. 25). Source
Coming up: Host of Christmas Past: Downtown Fayetteville, Fri.-Sat. Nov. 13-14, per the Chamber's community calendar. Details in next week's edition. Source
Notices
We link to the official pages; we don’t write alerts ourselves.
Veterans Day is Wednesday, Nov. 11: see OPM: federal holidays (checked Oct. 28)
Test your smoke alarms: see U.S. Fire Administration: smoke alarm care (checked Oct. 28)
Outdoor burning and burn permits: see the Tennessee Division of Forestry (BurnSafeTN) (checked Oct. 28)
Road work and closures: see TDOT SmartWay (checked Oct. 28)
Power outages: see the Fayetteville Public Utilities outage map (checked Oct. 28)
Utility news and notices: see Fayetteville Public Utilities (checked Oct. 28)
City notices: see City of Fayetteville news (checked Oct. 28)
County notices: see Lincoln County notices (checked Oct. 28)
New in town
We couldn't confirm a new opening from an official or dated news source this week.
| Your photo here | New business in town? Send us a photo of your storefront or team, and tell us who took it. Send a photo → |
Civic spotlight
The county's Veterans Service Office helps veterans with military issues and arranges medical assistance and funerals for veterans, according to Lincoln County's website. It serves about 3,000 veterans and their dependents, and transportation is available (call the office to ask).
The office works closely with local veteran groups, including the United Veterans of Lincoln County, and its website, Lincoln County Veterans Services, links the county's posts: American Legion Post 42, VFW Post 2167, Marine Corps League Detachment 702 and American Legion Post 111. The county estimates that veterans put $10 million a year into the local economy.
How to help, and how to get help
- Are you a veteran or a surviving spouse? Register on the Lincoln County Veterans Services site, or call (931) 433-1897. The office is at 208 E. Davidson St., Room 102: Mon.-Thu., 8 a.m.-4 p.m., by appointment (closed Fridays for claims processing). More
- Honor a veteran in your family at the Warrior Exhibit, 113 Main Ave. N. It collects 5x7 photos of veterans from every era who served honorably (in uniform or not), copies them and gives your original back. Its page lists $25 per photo to cover copying and framing. The exhibit is free to visit, Tue.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; call (931) 993-8353. More
- Need a flag? VFW Post 2167 takes flag requests through its page or at (931) 993-1311. Its free breakfast, open to the public, is the 2nd Saturday of each month. More
- Come out Saturday: the Veteran Celebration on the square, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. (see This week around town). More
Say thanks: this week, shake a veteran's hand and thank them for serving. And thank the people at the Veterans Service Office and our local posts, who help veterans and their families with the paperwork, the rides and the hardest days.
From the county's and Lincoln County Veterans Services' own pages: Lincoln County: Veterans Service Office · Lincoln County Veterans Services · Warrior Exhibit · VFW Post 2167 (checked Oct. 28). We chose the Veterans Service Office ourselves. The Almanac is independent; we just think you should know them.
Who remembers?
 One of the old storefronts (outlined) on the April 1914 map. Library of Congress | The Municipal Building, 110 Elk Ave. S., east side of the square Documented On the April 1914 fire-insurance map, the ground under today's Municipal Building was five storefronts, including dry-goods stores and a wholesale grocery. By the 1926 map, two of them were drawn as one store. Local accounts say The city's history of the square says that in the early 20th century a dry-goods and department store, another dry-goods store and two dime stores stood on part of what is now the Municipal Building. What we think Today it is one county parcel, so the old storefronts were either torn down or rebuilt into it. We don't know which. |
When was the Municipal Building built, and what happened to the old storefronts? Do you remember the dime stores, or have a photo? Tell us →
Sources: Sanborn map, April 1914, sheet 10 (Library of Congress) · 1926 map (UT Knoxville Libraries) · City of Fayetteville: Fayetteville Square · Our east side of the square page (checked Oct. 28) · Know better? Tell us and we’ll fix it.
Did you know? Camp Blount, where Tennessee troops mustered on the Elk River in 1813, was marked by the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution with a boulder and bronze plaque in 1913. In 2015 the Tennessee Historical Commission bought the site to preserve it. (Look for the Camp Blount cannon and reenactors on the square Saturday.) Source: HMdb: Preserving Camp Blount ON THIS DATE IN LINCOLN COUNTY: Nov. 7, 1863. A Union division of Gen. William T. Sherman's army, marching from Memphis to Chattanooga, "moved forward … in direction of Fayetteville" and camped on Bradshaw Creek, its official report says. That month Sherman's army crossed the Elk River on Fayetteville's six-arch Stone Bridge. A Civil War Trails marker says his order to destroy the bridge "was not followed," and a state marker says a Major Byrd disobeyed it. See both markers at Stone Bridge Park. Sources: Official Records report, 3rd Division, XV Corps (ahgp.org transcription); HMdb 152122; HMdb 263409.
The Fayetteville Crossword
A small puzzle for Veterans Day week. All 14 answers are on our self-guided walking tour, and each clue tells you which stop to check. Solve it on your phone (it checks your work), or print this email and use a pencil. Answers next issue.
| | | | | | 1 | | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | | | | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | | | | | | 6 | | | | | | | | | | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 8 | | 9 | | | | | 10 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11 | | | | | | | | 12 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 13 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Across1 Union troops used the walled courthouse as a temporary fort and as this Hint: see Stop 2 3 Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church hosted Lincoln County's organizing meetings of this group Hint: see Stop 7 6 "The First ___," the statue at Camp Blount Historic Site Hint: see “Worth a drive” on the walking tour 8 The old Stone Bridge had six elliptical ones Hint: see “Worth a drive” on the walking tour 10 The courthouse ___ holds about a dozen markers and memorials, each naming who put it up Hint: see Stop 2 11 Early settlers used the old mounting stones to climb onto these Hint: see Stop 2 12 First Presbyterian members tried to pull down the war-damaged steeple with these, plus mules Hint: see Stop 12 13 Pennsylvania city where the two cannons at the square's northeast corner were cast Hint: see Stop 2 Down2 Rank of Frank B. Kelso II, buried in his hometown at Rose Hill Hint: see Stop 6 3 Service whose top officer, the Chief of Naval Operations, was once Fayetteville's own Frank B. Kelso II Hint: see Stop 6 4 A stone plinth on the square marks where a survey ___ was driven in 1810 Hint: see Stop 1 5 A state marker says the bridge General Sherman ordered destroyed in 1863 was built without one Hint: see “Worth a drive” on the walking tour 7 Ed ___, Fayetteville-born songwriter honored by a Music Pathways marker at the museum Hint: see Stop 8 9 ___ War: Tennessee troops mustered at Camp Blount on the Elk River for it in 1813 Hint: see “Worth a drive” on the walking tour
Every clue comes from our Fayetteville walking tour, which cites its sources for each stop.
Last issue's crossword: the answers
| 1 K | | | 2 A | 3 P | R | O | N | S | | | E | | | | Y | | | | | | 4 B | L | O | U | N | T | | 5 C | | | | | S | | | | H | | A | | 6 L | | 7 R | O | S | 8 E | H | I | L | L | | I | | | | | L | | A | | A | | B | | 9 M | I | L | K | | N | | 10 B | A | R | S | U | | | | | | | O | | A | | 11 L | O | D | G | E | | 12 D | O | O | R | | E | | | | | | | S | | Y | | S | | 13 S | Q | U | A | R | E | | | |
2A APRONS; 4A BLOUNT; 7A ROSE HILL; 9A MILK; 10A BARS; 11A LODGE; 12A DOOR; 13A SQUARE. 1D KELSO; 3D PYTHIAN; 5D CALABOOSE; 6D LIBRARY; 8D ELK; 9D MULES.
Square Detective · We notice. You tell us.
This week's Square Detective case
One Sunday night in July 1866, something came down the drainpipes on the building at the square's southwest corner and threw bricks right out of the pavement. What was it? Make your guess before you read the clipping, or the answer below. Then go look: are there still downspouts on that corner today?
Fayetteville Observer, July 12, 1866, p. 3. Library of Congress, Chronicling America (public domain). Cropped.
Square Detective: the answer
The case: in July 1866, something came down two drainpipes on the southwest corner and threw up bricks from the pavement. The answer: lightning. It struck the building on the southwest corner, ran down two water pipes into the brick pavement and threw up bricks. Two young women were standing in a doorway about a foot from one of the pipes, “but, providentially, neither was injured.” Source: Fayetteville Observer, July 12, 1866, p. 3 (Library of Congress)
There’s a new case each week, and the answer comes Friday. More cases on the Square Detective page: Square Detective →
Got an old photo of the square? Send it in. It could become a Square Detective case. Share a photo → or email hello@ourtownalmanac.com.
Only send photos you own or have the owner’s OK to share. Loaned photos stay yours.
Help us out A photo of the Borden milk plant while it was running, or of the farm trucks lined up to deliver. Tell us who took it so we can credit them; you keep your copyright. Send a photo → Old photos of the square, any side, any decade: parades, send-offs, homecomings, Saturdays in town. Send a photo → A photo of the Lincoln County obelisk on the west side of the courthouse grounds. We still don't have one. Send a photo → A story, a memory or a fix for anything on the walking tour. Tell us → Events, with the date, time, place and a link to the organizer's page. Veteran groups and organizers, send yours too. Send it → Ideas? website · newsletter · Fayetteville We read every reply. We share ideas only with your permission, and without your name unless you say so. Got kids 4–13? Junior Detectives is our free puzzle newsletter for kids. Sign up here.
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