Fayetteville

History

Following the Louisiana Purchase, the first permanent settlers in what became Fayetteville were George McGarrah and his sons James, John, and William. Around 1828, they settled near Big Spring, close to the modern intersection of Spring and Willow Streets, in an area later known as the Masonic Addition at the base of Mount Sequoyah. That same year, Washington County was created from Lovely County, which had existed for only one year, and the settlement of Washington Courthouse was selected as the county seat. The Washington Courthouse was completed in 1829 and also housed the post office. Later in 1829, Postmaster General William T. Barry ordered the name changed to Fayetteville to avoid confusion with Washington in Hempstead County. Two commissioners responsible for locating the county seat were from Fayetteville, Tennessee, itself named after Fayetteville, North Carolina, which had been named in honor of General Lafayette for his role in the American Revolutionary War. James Leeper, a Revolutionary War veteran, was the second settler. His son, Matthew Leeper, later served as receiver of the federal Land Office, appointed by President Andrew Jackson. The Leeper family owned extensive land holdings south of Mount Sequoyah to the White River. Through marriage, the Leeper and Washington families became closely linked to David Walker, later Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, who in 1832 built a double log cabin on what became Center Street. In 1835, President Jackson issued a patent for 160 acres forming the original settlement. On March 5, 1861, Washington County delegates, including three from Fayetteville, attended the Arkansas Secession Convention, electing Judge David Walker as chairman. The convention initially voted against secession on March 16.…

Geography

Fayetteville is in the Boston Mountains, a subset of the Ozarks which runs through Northwest Arkansas, southern Missouri, and Eastern Oklahoma. The rocks of the Boston Mountains were formed when sandstones and shales were deposited on top of the Springfield Plateau during the Pennsylvanian Period. In the Fayetteville area, following uplift during the Ouachita orogeny, the sediments were eroded to expose the Mississippian limestone formations of the Springfield Plateau, while south of Fayetteville the remaining deeply eroded Pennsylvanian sediments form the steep Boston Mountains. Fayetteville is also the namesake of the Fayetteville Shale, a geological formation which has recently become an epicenter for natural gas extraction by hydraulic fracturing. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (2.59%) is water. The city is centrally located in Washington County, Arkansas, along Interstate 49/US Route 71, the only fully controlled access route through the area, which replaced the winding US 71 (now US 71B) in the 1990s. An interstate connection with Fort Smith to the south and Kansas City, Missouri, to the north has contributed to Fayetteville's growth. Fayetteville is bordered along the north by Springdale and Johnson. In places, this transition is seamlessly urban. Fayetteville is not bordered by towns to its south, instead opening up to scenic country along the Boston Mountains Scenic Loop. Past the rural communities of Greenland and West Fork is Devil's Den State Park. The area had a population of 463,205 at the 2010 census which increased to 546,725 by the 2020 census (an increase of 24.2 percent). Although the Metropolitan Statistical Area does not consist of the usual principal-city-with-suburbs…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,117
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  12,198
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  10,962
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  10,879
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  10,324
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,688
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,674
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  9,313

Largest nearby schools

• FAYETTEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL EAST
  High · FAYETTEVILLE · 2,685 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• HAR-BER HIGH SCHOOL
  High · SPRINGDALE · 2,274 students · 14:1 ratio
• SPRINGDALE HIGH SCHOOL
  High · SPRINGDALE · 2,158 students · 11.9:1 ratio
• SPRINGDALE SCHOOL OF INNOVATIONS
  Other · SPRINGDALE · 2,116 students · 12.1:1 ratio
• OWL CREEK SCHOOL
  Elementary · FAYETTEVILLE · 1,024 students · 19.3:1 ratio
• CENTRAL JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
  Other · SPRINGDALE · 890 students · 15.3:1 ratio
• HELEN TYSON MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · SPRINGDALE · 786 students · 13.8:1 ratio
• HELLSTERN MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · SPRINGDALE · 781 students · 12.2:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2018-12-10
  1 km ENE of Zeb, Oklahoma
• M 2.7 — 2016-04-03
  Arkansas-Oklahoma border region
• M 2.5 — 2011-08-11
  11 km WSW of Jasper, Arkansas
• M 2.6 — 2010-05-21
  2 km SW of Centerton, Arkansas
• M 2.5 — 2010-04-29
  3 km SW of Centerton, Arkansas
• M 3.1 — 2007-09-07
  3 km W of Harrison, Arkansas