Get to know Fayetteville: a walk through its history

Transcript: Stop 1, The Courthouse Square

You're standing in the middle of the town plan. Fayetteville was laid out around this square in 1810, on land the county bought from settler Ezekiel Norris. Fayetteville Main Street, the downtown organization, writes that the acreage for the courthouse was cleared by Richard Sappington, a freed Black man. His name is worth remembering as you look around.

Main Street also points out something small that's easy to miss. On the square's northeast corner, a stone plinth marks where a survey pin was driven in 1810 to lay out the town. That's the spot Fayetteville was measured from.

The courthouse in front of you is the county's fourth. It's a Colonial Revival building from 1970. It replaced an Italianate courthouse from 1874. There's a famous photograph of that older building from 1886, with a huge crowd gathered out front waiting for the governor's race debate between two brothers, Bob Taylor and Alf Taylor.

The buildings around you have their own scars. Main Street notes that two fires in 1885 burned almost the entire west side of the square.

Today the courthouse still runs the county's business, and the storefronts hold shops, offices, and the Lincoln Theatre. Take ten minutes or so to walk the sides and look up at the upper stories.

When you're done, head onto the courthouse lawn for the monuments and markers.

Transcript: Stop 2, Courthouse Lawn: Monuments and Markers

You're on the courthouse lawn, and you're surrounded by more than a century of people deciding what to remember. The markers here were placed between 1904 and 2018, and each one says who put it up.

The Tennessee Civil War Trails marker says Lincoln County sent almost five thousand men to the Confederate army. Union troops held the town from the spring of 1863 to the end of the war, and they used the walled courthouse as a stable and a temporary fort. In November 1863, Sherman's army crossed the Elk River on the stone bridge south of town.

Another marker records Bell's Route of the Trail of Tears. In late October and early November of 1838, a group of Cherokee people, escorted by Lieutenant Edward Deas, passed through Fayetteville on the forced journey west. The marker says many who began that journey died along the way.

A stone titled "Martyred," first placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1914, records that on June 15, 1864, three local men were executed without trial on the order of Union General E. A. Paine.

At the northeast corner is the Confederate Monument. The United Daughters of the Confederacy unveiled it in 1906, according to its marker; a Smithsonian survey lists 1904. In front of it are two cannons with a surprising story: they were cast in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1865 and 1866, guarded Fort Morgan, Alabama, during the Spanish-American War, and came here in 1905.

Look too for the 1957 War Memorial, the horse mounting stones, and the Revolutionary War Patriots Memorial from 2018.

Transcript: Stop 3, The Pythian Building

Look across Main Avenue at the three-story brick building on the corner, with the arched windows up top. Please use the crosswalk if you'd like a closer look; this is U.S. 431, and traffic moves.

This is the Pythian Building. It was built around 1900 by the Knights of Pythias, a fraternal order. The lodge met in the hall on the top floor, and the lower floors held shops and offices.

Here's the part Fayetteville Main Street likes to tell. This building also held the town's first public library. And it was founded and run for more than half a century, without any public money, by a women's literary club called the Round Dozen. For more than fifty years, if you wanted to borrow a book in Fayetteville, you had a group of local women to thank.

Today the building still anchors this corner of the square, and the Fayetteville Main Street office is inside, in Suite 1A. They keep weekday office hours, so if you have questions about downtown, it's a good place to ask.

If you're taking photos, the building faces east, so morning light is kindest to the brick.

Our next stop is just around the corner, on West Market Street: a jail that now serves lunch.

Transcript: Stop 4, The Old City Calaboose (1867 town jail)

You're on West Market Street, just off the square. The building at 114 West Market has a past you'd never guess from the sidewalk.

"Calaboose" is an old word for a jail. A marker at Stone Bridge Memorial Park, south of town, says the old city calaboose, Fayetteville's town jail, was built in 1867, and that Cahoots Restaurant is in the building today. So a building that once held prisoners now serves meals.

The jail's barred door didn't stay here. It was moved to Stone Bridge Memorial Park, where it's on display with a plaque. The plaque reads, quote, "Many a person has looked through these bars." If you drive out to the park later, it's worth finding.

The restaurant is a business, so enjoy the outside anytime, and go in only as a customer during business hours.

If you're on the short version of the tour, this is where you turn back. The square is a couple of minutes away, and you've covered about a third of a mile.

If you're doing the full loop, our next stop is a longer walk west along College Street, about half a mile, to one of the oldest congregations in town. Stay on the sidewalk, and take care at the crossings.

Transcript: Stop 5, St. Paul A.M.E. Church

You're on West College Street, looking at a red brick church with two square towers and white spires. This is St. Paul A.M.E. Church, and its congregation goes back to 1824. It's an active church, so please enjoy it from the sidewalk and stay off the steps and grounds.

The congregation began as what was called the "African Church." A 2013 article in the Elk Valley Times says it was probably organized by white slaveholders for the enslaved people in their households. That beginning is part of the church's story.

In 1867, two years after the Civil War ended, the congregation moved to this site. The brick church you see was finished in 1913. Oral histories cited in that same article say the women of the church carried the bricks to the site in their aprons.

On October 3, 2003, St. Paul was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, after research by Middle Tennessee State University. You'll find a National Register plaque at the corner of College and Edison Streets.

The church appears to face south, so it should be lit from late morning through mid-afternoon if you'd like a photo from across the street.

Next, we'll walk a short way to Rose Hill Cemetery.

Transcript: Stop 6, Rose Hill Cemetery

You've arrived at Rose Hill Cemetery. Before you go in, a gentle request: this is a place of rest, and families still visit. Please stay on the paths and drives, don't touch or lean on the stones, and keep your voice low. We didn't find published visiting hours, so please come in daylight and follow any posted rules.

Rose Hill is a large town cemetery. Find a Grave lists more than fifty-five hundred memorials here.

Two of the people buried here show how far Fayetteville's story reaches. George Washington Jones, who lived from 1806 to 1884, served in the U.S. Congress from 1843 to 1859, and later in the Confederate Congress. The Political Graveyard, a reference on American politicians, records that he was a slaveholder.

And Admiral Frank B. Kelso the Second, who lived from 1933 to 2013, was a Fayetteville native who rose to become the Navy's Chief of Naval Operations, the Navy's top officer. He came home to rest in his hometown.

In October 2023, Fayetteville Main Street held a self-guided history stroll here, with costumed actors telling the stories of people buried on these grounds.

Take fifteen minutes or more if you'd like to walk quietly through the older sections. When you're ready, our next stop is about half a mile away, back toward the south side of town, at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

Transcript: Stop 7, Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church

You're on West Maple Street, at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church. It's an active church, so please enjoy it from the sidewalk.

Mount Zion's story begins in 1873. According to the church's history, it was organized by formerly enslaved people and the sons of enslaved people, who bought land for a church that same year.

An earlier building burned. The two-story brick and stone building in front of you, in the Gothic Revival style, with its steep gable, dates from 1902.

Mount Zion also has a place in the civil rights story. The National Register study of African American churches notes that it hosted the Lincoln County organizational meetings of the NAACP.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 6, 2000. Together with St. Paul, which you just visited, it's one of two Fayetteville churches recognized in the state's study of historic African American churches.

If you're on the shorter loop, this is your turnaround point; head back to the square, about a third of a mile. If you're on the full loop, we're heading about a third of a mile south, to an old milk plant that's now the county museum.

Transcript: Stop 8, Fayetteville-Lincoln County Museum (Borden Milk Plant)

You're on Main Avenue South, in front of a long, low brick building. In 1927, the Borden company built this plant to turn local milk into butter and powdered milk.

It mattered to a lot of families. At its peak, the plant had seventy-five employees and bought milk from more than twelve hundred farmers. During World War Two, it dried milk and eggs for the U.S. military.

The museum says the plant closed on December 15, 1967. The Tennessee Encyclopedia gives 1962, so the sources don't quite agree. The building was listed on the National Register in 1988, and today it's home to the Fayetteville-Lincoln County Museum, with thirty-three thousand square feet of space. If it's open, you could easily spend an hour inside. Check the museum's website for current hours.

Now, out front, look for a Tennessee Music Pathways marker. It honors Ed Townsend, a songwriter and producer born in Fayetteville in 1929. Townsend co-wrote and co-produced half of Marvin Gaye's 1973 album, "Let's Get It On."

Next, we'll head east to South Elk Avenue, where the walk turns residential. The next stops are private homes, so please enjoy them from the sidewalk.

Transcript: Stop 9, McDonald-Bolner House

You're on South Elk Avenue. The house at 400 South Elk is a private home, so please stay on the public sidewalk, don't step into the yard, and keep the group moving so the people who live here have their peace.

This is the McDonald-Bolner House. According to its National Register nomination, it was built in 1859 for a cotton farmer and his wife. Its design is Gothic Revival; look for the steep, pointed gables.

The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 31, 1984. It's one of the few houses within walking distance of the square that's listed on its own, not just as part of a district.

If you'd like a photo, a zoom lets you frame the gables over the fence without stepping onto the property. The house appears to face west, so afternoon light is likely best, but that's only a suggestion.

Our next stop is right here on the same street, just a few steps away: the South Elk Street Historic District.

Transcript: Stop 10, South Elk Street Historic District

You're in the South Elk Street Historic District. These are private homes, so please enjoy them from the public sidewalk only.

The district was listed on the National Register in 1989. It runs roughly along South Elk Street, between East Campbell Street, Franklin Street, and the old L and N railroad tracks.

Near the north end of the district, on the east side of the street, look for two houses with National Register plaques, at 304 and 310 Elk Avenue South. Here's the one to look for: the plaque at 310 dates that house to 1827. Fayetteville was laid out in 1810, so that house went up just seventeen years after the town itself.

The district also includes the yellow Queen Anne house with the corner turret and porch, from the 1880s.

Take five or ten minutes to stroll a block and read the plaques from the sidewalk. These houses face west, so afternoon light is a good suggestion for photos.

When you're ready, we'll head northeast, back past the square, to the town's early burial ground, the Old City Cemetery. The walk is about a third of a mile. Watch for traffic as you cross near the square.

Transcript: Stop 11, Old City Cemetery

You're at the corner of Mulberry Avenue and Column Street, at the Old City Cemetery. It's only a block from the square, and it's easy to walk right past. Please be respectful here: stay on the paths, don't touch or lean on the stones, and keep voices low. We found no published visiting hours, so please come in daylight and follow any posted rules.

Find a Grave lists this as the Old Fayetteville City Cemetery. It's also known as the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery, and it holds about two hundred fifty memorials.

Fayetteville Main Street writes that the land came from James Bright, an early citizen who served as Surveyor General of Tennessee. He gave ground for the Presbyterian church and for the town's burial ground, and the church is right next door; that's our next stop.

Among those buried here is John Morgan Bright, who lived from 1817 to 1911 and served in the U.S. Congress from 1871 to 1881. The Political Graveyard records that he was a slaveholder.

Notice the old stones under the big magnolia and the other large trees. If you'd like a photo, the trees cast deep shade at midday, so an overcast day or early morning gives the most even light. Please take photos from the paths.

Take ten minutes or so to read a few of the older stones. Then walk a few steps to the brick church next door.

Transcript: Stop 12, First Presbyterian Church

You're at 101 Mulberry Avenue, First Presbyterian Church. It's an active congregation, so please enjoy it from the sidewalk.

The church says its congregation was organized in the fall of 1812; Fayetteville Main Street gives 1814. Either way, it's nearly as old as the town, and its first members met in the log courthouse.

In 1832, they built a church on this site. On February 24, 1851, a storm destroyed it. The church clerk at the time, John Morgan Bright, whose grave you may have just passed next door, wrote in the records that "our church was crushed to its foundations."

The building you see was raised from bricks burned right here on the spot, and it was dedicated on September 17, 1854. Fayetteville Main Street calls it the oldest public structure in Lincoln County.

During the Civil War, the church writes, oral tradition says the Union Army used the upstairs as a hospital and the basement as a stable. Main Street adds a story about the steeple: members tried to pull the war-damaged steeple down with oxen, mules, and horses. It held, until they'd loosened it so much it had to come down.

The four columns out front date from 1917, when the front was extended.

Next, we'll walk north into the Mulberry-Washington-Lincoln Historic District. Those are private homes, so we'll stay on the sidewalk.

Transcript: Stop 13, Mulberry-Washington-Lincoln Historic District

You're on Mulberry Avenue, near Washington Street, in the Mulberry-Washington-Lincoln Historic District. These are private homes, so please stay on the public sidewalk and don't step into the yards.

The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It covers parts of Bright, Elk, Green, Main, Lincoln, Mulberry, and Washington Streets, the older residential streets close to the square. People still live here.

Fayetteville Main Street's history notes point out something you can look for. From the corner of Washington Street and Main Avenue, you can see three of the town's few remaining antebellum houses, meaning houses built before the Civil War.

One house in the district, the white house with the columned front porch in our photo, was built around 1850 and remodeled in the 1920s.

Take ten minutes or so to stroll the sidewalks under the shade trees. Soft morning or late-afternoon light is nice here for photos, but that's only a suggestion.

Our next stop is a short walk west, on Elk Avenue North: one of the most elaborate Victorian houses near the square.

Transcript: Stop 14, Hugh Bright Douglas House

You're on Elk Avenue North, near Washington Street. The white Victorian house at 301 Elk Avenue North, with the wraparound porch and the turret, is a private home. Please enjoy it from the public sidewalk and keep the group off the yard.

This is the Hugh Bright Douglas House. It was built in 1894 for its namesake. The plaque out front says circa 1893, so the sources differ by a year. Hugh Bright Douglas was a Confederate veteran who served under Generals Nathan Bedford Forrest and Joseph Wheeler.

The house was designed by the firm Rickman and Bills in a style sometimes called "Steamboat Gothic."

Fayetteville Main Street shares a detail you can't see from out here. The elaborate woodwork inside, the millwork, was made from lumber cut on the family's fourteen-hundred-acre farm east of town. So part of the countryside around Fayetteville is built into this house.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 25, 1982. The house faces west, so afternoon light is the suggestion for a photo.

This is our last stop. The square is just a few minutes' walk south from here, down Elk Avenue. Please use the crosswalks as you come back onto the square.