Peek at the Past
1754: Cumberland County is carved from Bladen County.
1783: Cross Creek is renamed Fayetteville, and streets are laid out in a grid pattern.
1789: The constitutional convention meets in Fayetteville, and the University of North Carolina is chartered.
de Lafayette
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1825: Gen. Marquis de Lafayette, the Revolutionary War hero for whom Fayetteville is named, visits and is given a grand ball in the new Lafayette Hotel.
1831: "The Great Fire" destroys much of Fayetteville, including the State House.
1832: The Market House is built on the site of the old State House.
1845: Another major fire destroys much of Fayetteville.
1861: The federal arsenal, built in 1850, is seized by the Confederacy.
1865: Gen. William T. Sherman and his army marches into Fayetteville and burns the arsenal and many other businesses and buildings.
1878: The first public grade school in North Carolina opens in Fayetteville.
1904: The first mail carriers for free delivery make their rounds; it costs 2 cents to mail a letter.
1908: The Cape Fear River floods much of Fayetteville.
1912: The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad station opens on Hay Street.
1918: Camp Bragg, which later becomes Fort Bragg, is established.
1925: The Prince Charles Hotel opens on Hay Street.
Earhart
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1931: Aviator Amelia Earhart visits Fayetteville.
1934: Eleanor Roosevelt pays an unexpected visit to Fayetteville on her way to Florida from Washington.
1937: State Normal School, now Fayetteville State University, becomes a four-year institution.
1941: The first United Service Club (USO) in the United States opens in Fayetteville.
1945: The Cape Fear River overflows its banks and floods Fayetteville again.
1947: Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, chief of staff of the Army, rides through downtown Fayetteville during his first visit to Fort Bragg.
1949: The Fayetteville Municipal Airport opens.
1955: Eutaw Village Shopping Center on Bragg Boulevard opens.
1955: The cornerstone is laid for the new $3.5 million Cape Fear Valley Hospital.
1961: Fayetteville lawyer Terry Sanford becomes governor of North Carolina.
1965: Sen. Robert F. Kennedy speaks at the dedication of the academic and headquarters building at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg.
1965: About 1,700 Fort Bragg soldiers receive orders for duty in Vietnam.
1966: The Federal Building opens on Green Street.
1969: A new terminal building is dedicated at Fayetteville Municipal Airport.
1969: The first tire rolls off the line as the Kelly-Springfield plant on Raleigh Road begins operation.
1970: Actress Jane Fonda comes to town as a Vietnam war protester.
1971: DuPont, one of the largest chemical companies in the world, opens a manufacturing plant between the Cape Fear River and N.C. 87 in Bladen County near the Cumberland County line.
1974: The Market House, built in 1832, is dedicated as a National Historic Landmark.
Presley
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1975: Cross Creek Mall opens.
1976: Elvis Presley sells out the Cumberland County Arena.
1980: A 17-mile bypass section of Interstate 95 opens east of Fayetteville.
1983: The first Dogwood Festival is held.
1987: Bob Hope tapes a TV show at Pope Air Force Base; President Reagan visits to wish him a happy birthday.
1988: Cape Fear Valley Medical Center's new $2.9 million emergency department is dedicated.
1991: Fayetteville and Fort Bragg welcome home troops from the Persian Gulf War.
1994: Actress and comedian Martha Raye, an honorary Green Beret, is buried at Fort Bragg.
1997: The 13,000 seat Crown Coliseum opens.
1998: The 400 block of Hay Street is named the J.L. Dawkins City Plaza in honor of the longtime mayor.
2000: The Airborne & Special Operations Museum opens downtown.
2003: Record rainfall causes a dam break that empties Hope Mills Lake.
2004: The 4.2-mile Cape Fear River Trail opens.
2004: The Fayetteville City Council endorses a plan for Festival Park downtown.
McLaurin
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2005: Brooke McLaurin is crowned Miss Fayetteville, then wins the Miss North Carolina crown.
2006: The Fayetteville Area Transportation Museum opens downtown.
2006: The legal battle against Fayetteville's annexation of 27 square miles and more than 46,000 residents ends when the U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear the case.
2007: Festival Park opens and the 25th Dogwood Festival is held there with teen sensation JoJo performing.
2007: Fayetteville Regional Airport receives a "no discrepancies" rating from the Federal Aviation Administration, the highest rating given.
2007: A groundbreaking is held for the new dam and spillway that will restore Hope Mills Lake.
Updated: August, 2007