A Glimpse At The History Of Fayetteville Street
Since 1792 and the creation of Raleigh, Fayetteville Street has enjoyed special status, not only as Raleigh’s main street, but in many ways North Carolina’s.
Fayetteville Street was commerce; it was where Presidents met Raleigh when they came to call. It was the social scene where legislators stayed when in town and the wealthiest socialites built their homes. It was where Raleigh went to be entertained and where we went to celebrate. As a thoroughfare, Fayetteville has seen and been it all. The following is a brief look at some of the things Fayetteville Street has been to us through the years.
COMMERCIAL CENTER
While all agree that William Christmas did a fabulous job designing Raleigh, he was wrong about one thing. Mr. Christmas put forth that the business center of the newly formed city would be New Bern Avenue in front of the Capitol. But Fayetteville Street soon became part of the main road from Fayetteville to Petersburg, Va., both vibrant centers of trade.
With an eye toward affluent travelers and state legislators, Peter Casso opened Raleigh’s first inn in 1795 at the corner of Fayetteville and Morgan streets. Popular from the start, the inn gained “official” status in 1808 when the town bell was placed on the sidewalk in front of the inn.
Born to wealth, William Peace and his brother Joseph saw a good thing coming to life in the seven-year-old capital of North Carolina and opened a general store on Fayetteville Street. (William Peace went on to found Peace College.)
Raleigh’s first attempt at urbanity came with the construction of the Yarborough House on Fayetteville Street in the early 1850s. The establishment caught on immediately and legislators often referred to it as the “third house of the General Assembly.” By 1890, three governors had called it their Raleigh home while serving in office.
The range of commerce on Fayetteville Street grew in diversity with the passing of the decades. The end of the Civil War saw a number of ventures to start anew in the Southern capital city.
In 1865 Thomas H. Briggs opened a hardware business on Fayetteville Street. Just nine years later Mr. Briggs put his stamp on the emerging Raleigh skyline with the construction of the four-story Briggs Building, then the tallest building in eastern North Carolina. Raleigh has found many uses for the building over the last 131 years. The National Guard used the upper floors for training during World War I. It was the initial home of the Raleigh Little Theatre. Today is houses the Raleigh City Museum.
Also in 1865, an unknown Yankee soldier opened a candy store on Fayetteville Street, but soon sold the business to his assistant, A. D. Royster, and returned to the North. Mr. Royster and his brother, V.C., made and sold confections from the location for 65 years.
In 1867, Alfred Williams began publishing school catalogues and furnishing school supplies to every county in the state from a Fayetteville Street location. He also edited and published the North Carolina Teacher.
In that same year, W.H. Tucker and R.S. Tucker combined commerce with entertainment. The bustle of the first two floors of their establishment told all that the Tucker brothers’ concern was the city’s largest mercantile firm. But the third floor offered enchantment for all comers. The 1,200-seat Tucker Hall offered acts ranging from Col. W.F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody to tenor Pasquale Brignoli, to Governor Zebulon Vance’s 1877 inaugural address.
In 1872, P.S. Waitt opened a haberdashery at 215 Fayetteville. So prized were his services by all the Capital City dandies, he moved to more spacious digs next door in 1874.
But the hub of the city was opened at 118 Fayetteville in 1869. The P.E. Pescud & Sons drugstore quickly became a popular rookery for Raleigh youth. So hot was the soda shop that an additional store was opened just 10 years later at Martin and Fayetteville. On Jan. 12, 1884, the State Chronicle reported on the proprietor’s commitment to offering his clientele nothing but the best and most in the way of refreshments: “They have made an order for a new soda fountain, which will dispense 22 syrups and 10 mineral waters. It is to cost $2,500 and will be one of the handsomest and most complete soda fountains in the Southern Sates.”
In 1882, the drugstore at 118 became the site of Raleigh’s first Southern Bell telephone exchange.
The new federal courthouse and post office with its identical front and back, was opened at the corner of Fayetteville and Martin in 1878 at a whopping cost of $400,000.
The coming of the twentieth century saw even greater distinction for “the” street. The new century brought the movies to Raleigh, with the first being shown in the second floor of the old City market at Fayetteville Street and Exchange Place.
The first building using reinforced concrete in North Carolina – the Masonic Temple – was built at Fayetteville and Hargett in 1907 for $120,000.
In 1914, Citizens National Bank’s 11-story headquarters on Fayetteville became Raleigh’s tallest building and added further to its reputation as “downtown North Carolina.”
Costing three quarters of a million dollars, the Sir Walter Hotel opened its doors onto Fayetteville Street in 1922.
RALEIGH’S ‘FRONT PORCH’
But Fayetteville Street was always more than just a commercial strip; much more. It has been our “front porch,” where we gather to welcome the most exalted and to celebrate our most significant moments and accomplishments as a people.
This tradition began with the dawning of the nineteenth century. President George Washington died in December 1799. The next February more than 1,000 honored our first President by lining Fayetteville Street and removing their hats and placing them solemnly across their hearts as militia fired cannon and a procession made its way to the Capitol.
Raleigh’s only native son to occupy the Oval Office – Andrew Jackson Johnson – was born on Fayetteville Street in a small house within the Casso Inn courtyard in 1808.
While secession politics were simmering to a boil, Raleigh paused and put on its best wares and manners in June 1858 when President James Buchanan swept through the city on his way to the commencement event at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Oak City Guards greeted the President at Weldon in Halifax County. Military companies from throughout North Carolina accompanied the President and Secretary of the Interior Jacob Thompson and Gov. John W. Ellis around Union Square and down Fayetteville Street to the Yarborough House.
A less than positive gathering occurred on Fayetteville Street on Oct. 20, 1898 when soldiers from nearby Camp Bryan Grimes rioted following being paid. (Camp Bryan Grimes had been established two years earlier as part of the arming and training prompted by the Spanish-American War.)
President Theodore Roosevelt was warmly greeted on Oct. 10, 1905 as he made his way up Fayetteville Street on his way to deliver a speech at the Fair Grounds.
A throng of more than 75,000 people lined Fayetteville Street the evening of March 23, 1919 to welcome the victorious Raleigh native Col. Albert L. Cox and the 113th Field Artillery home from the First World War.
But the events marking Fayetteville as Raleigh’s “special place” were not always planned. One of the most significant moments was spontaneous. First word of the Japanese surrender ending World War II hit Raleigh at 7:02 p.m., Aug. 14, 1945. Raleigh police reported that by 7:12 p.m. Fayetteville Street was jammed with cars and the air stuffed with the cacophony of horns and sirens. By 7:30 p.m., more than 20,000 people had hit the street to express their jubilation together as a community, a nation and a people.
A treasured Raleigh tradition was initiated New Year’s Eve 1991 when First Night came to town and the first acorn was dropped on Fayetteville Street. On June 21, 1996, thousands descended on Fayetteville Street to cheer the Olympic Torch as it made its journey to Atlanta. And the tradition continued into the twenty-first century when on June 15, 2002, Fayetteville Street Mall was the chosen site for the celebration commemorating the NHL Carolina Hurricanes’ winning the Prince of Wales Cup.
EVERY SORT OF THOROUGHFARE
Raleigh can trace its history through the lanes of Fayetteville Street, but the thoroughfare itself makes for interesting transportation history.
Being adroit city planners, the founding commissioners chose a site for the Tarheel capital that was flush with water, with nine branches serving the area. Fayetteville Street was sited along a natural ridge leading from the Capitol south toward Walnut Creek.
Why “Fayetteville” for this most illustrious byway? The new capital city was planned with 25 streets. The names for the four streets bounding the city limits followed the laws of the compass – South, North, East, and West. Those encircling the Capitol were named to honor the state’s eight court districts: Fayette(ville), Edenton, Halifax, Hillsborough, Morgan, New Bern, Salisbury and Wilmington. Nine streets were named to honor the commissioners themselves. The remaining four streets were named to the honor of contemporary state leaders – Senate Speaker William Lenoir, House Speaker Stephen Cabarrus, Revolutionary General William R. Davie, and the owner of the land, Senator Joel Lane. The General Assembly decreed that these streets “shall be called and forever known.”
In 1881 City Engineer T.D. Hogg proposed that 20-foot-wide median strips should divide Fayetteville, that trees should line the lanes and that a “steel rail cart-way” should be built to attract heavy vehicles.”
In 1886, City officials voted to “macadamize” Fayetteville Street. The first streetcar route was inaugurated Christmas Day, 1886, transporting civic luminaries from the Hotel Florence at Fayetteville and Davie, toward St. Mary’s.
And so, the years passed, Raleigh’s rail-transit system was yanked up and paved over. Cars became king and commonplace. Suburbia became the American post-war Mecca. Downtowns throughout the land despaired. In an attempt to bring back the glory days, business leaders and City officials began working toward converting Fayetteville Street into a pedestrian mall. This initiative began in 1960 and was realized in 1977 when downtown property owners agreed to a surcharge of 12 cents per $100 valuation to help finance the project.
Today, 28 years later, business leaders and City officials are beginning the process to return vehicles to Raleigh’s main street. The Fayetteville Street Renaissance Project is scheduled to be completed in May 2006.
(References: “Raleigh City of Oaks, James Vickers, American Historical Press; Wake: Capital County of North Carolina Vol. I, Elizabeth Reid Murray, Capital County Publishing Co.)
For More Information Contact:
Jayne Kirkpatrick
Director
Public Affairs Department
222 West Hargett Street
Raleigh, NC 27602
919-996-3100
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