The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1885-11-19
JOLLY OLD FAYETTEVILLE.
ITS PAST ANDPRESENT ANDWHAT
ITS FUTURE NAY BE.
\ GO-easy Old Town Full of Crumbiing
Land. Marks, But Catching the Spirit
of Progress.
Especial Cor. STATE CHRONICLE

FAYETTEVILLE n G.. Nov IA '>5.-Yor
may not believe it for IN this day of pusl
and Southern upbuliding it sounds littl,
incredulous-bu forty years ago Fayette
vile was bigger town than il is to-day
and forty years ago it was town of NOR,
Importance than it Will be forty years 1,
| come Then II was the twin sister ant
| prosperous heipmate OF Wilmington the
other prominent port OF the Cape Fear
In that day and time the people living III
the rich valleys of the Yadkin bundled III
their products and took a week 10 carry
them 10 Fayetteville, convert them into
| merchandise and money. and carry the
news OF the day back TO their neighbor>.
sampson county sent up her hucklcber-
ries and hoop poles, while Harnett, John
son, Wake, Franklin, Chatham, and even
! Granville, Person. and CasweH carried
their cotton, their tobacco and their other
products TO Cumberland's Capital. Then
II was North Cardinals principal market
the recognized commercial centre as well
as Its political Mecca and centre of attrac-
ton. This 1t can never be again. it may
! be, indeed it is, and will continue 10 be- an
| important business centre.
| Its crumbing relies of by-gone days NAV
and are giving way to c0mmodious monu-
| ments of modern industry. New men
may, and are inaugurating new industries.
| but III the march of progress it .inds itself
! competing with Raleigh, wf:h Durham,
| with Charlotte, with Greensboro, with
Winston and a dozen other points that are
younger than Fayetteville, but are vigor-
! Gus and lively
When Fayetteville was North Carolina 5
most noted business mart it took no effort
| for 1T to maintain its position. The whistle
OF the steam eng Inc had never sounded
aIl md fhnr Il
| around SO many important ''boros;" and
down the Cape Fear the products of the
interior were forced to find their way
The business men of the town could afford
to sit and wait for the business that was
bound to come. Then fortunes were made
without much effort, and but for a spirit
OF independence and business inactivity
that was the natural result of such times
and such circumstances, Fayettevile's :
progress might have continued to increase
instead Of diminishing, as it unqueotiona
bly, did do, for several years after the war.
This disposition to stand still did II IT
set we'll on the minds of an energetic
young element which was the natural out
growth of the famous old families of Cum
berland, and great number of them
pitched their tents in other places. Raleigh
has some of them, Durham has several,
Henderson few, and in many other towns
you find Fayetteville bOyS-nOt following
but lea ling in successful business enter
prises
In days gone by when the venerable Mr.
G. G. Barbee's foaming steeds would pull
up to the old Fayetteville Hotel with stage
coach full of lawyers, doctors and business
men generally, if they happened to land
about O'Clock p. m, the first sound that
greeted their dusty ears was a continuous
no nf hn oyl-a J,,l ;,l,
notified the slaves that they must hustle
to their huts.
This old practice is still kept up but ust
what the bell rings for now, nobody seems
to knOw-not for the darkles TO 90 in, for
by 8 O'Clock their church meetings are Just
getting interesting. a gentleman Ga mar
ried NAM said that it was probably to no
tify the lodges and club rooms that it was
time to adjourn, but whatever may be its
purpose "the old bell still rings which
is only one of the old time habits the peO-
pie continue.
To be sure the business of tie town has
not stood entirely still; to the contrary,
live men are here and have been here all the
time, and while men were building for
tunes in other places there were those,
and not a few of them either, who have
shown what energy and push could do here
as well as elsewhere. And in every line
OF business there are notable successes by
men whose hope is to see the old town
thoroughly rejuvenated and made to shine
in the galaxy of prosperous cities as it did
in ''ye olden time" But (hold your ear
close. | am afraid to say this out loud)
there are old fOgies here, or rather veneer
able representatives of old thought and
ancient ideas, that we young Americans
call old foges. Hitherto they were more
than Some of them blyn
been converted over to new lines of prog
ress while others have lived out life of
honesty and morality, and of usefulness in
their day and have left to their children
the inheritance of many virtues and a
name which it is their duty to always re
we're and honor.
There are few, however, who still say
touch not these old walls they were good
enough for my grand father and my father
and they are good enough for me- Let
them stand Another thing, too, has OPP
Grated against Fayettevilles recent up
building: many of its most valuable blocks
have belonged to the estates of men vho
have long since lived labored and pissed
away and the old fashioned brick struc-
lures with windows in the roofs were left
to remain. This property is now gradu-
ally coming into market, and wherever a
sale is made an active enterprising man
is the purchaser, the old landmark soon
disappears and in its place a modern and
commOdiOus business house is erected.
From one point Oh Hay street you can
stand and count no less than a dozen
handsome brick business houses, all built
within the past two years, and III tItcm
you find scenes of business activity, not
surpassed by any town in the State. Mr..
E. T. Mckeithan's new building would not
suffer beside any business house, not only
in Fayetteville, but anywhere in the State
The handsome Mcmillan building, in which
we find the hardware business of McMilla !
Bros. is a slightly new structure and Is ad-
equate to the demand of their extensive
trade. The dry goods and clothing store
just now being completed by Mr. Frank
W. Thornton, is among the largest and
best arranged business houses in the State
and Fayetteville or any other town may
we'll be proud of so enterprising a man as
Mr.. Thornton, and might point with pride
to so imposing a structure as the Thorn
ton building will be.
Its Railroads.
AS these new buildings go up Fayette-
| ville's Importance, as a business centre in
creases No longer does the hoarse old
, engine stand all day around the depot
here and then lazily pull off with a half
dozen passengers bound for Egypt, and
| take all night to get there. Now bright
| looking, shrill whistling new engines, pull
/ ing half dozen G. F. Il Y. V. coaches rush
| in from RennattsviIIe hOnnd for Greens.