Fayetteville

History

Fayetteville was founded in 1822 as the seat of the newly formed Fayette County, organized by European Americans from territory ceded by force from the Creek people under a treaty with the United States during the early period of Indian removal from the Southeast. Both city and county were named in honor of the Revolutionary War hero the French Marquis de Lafayette. Fayetteville was incorporated as a town in 1823 and as a city in 1902. The area was developed for cotton plantations, with labor provided by enslaved Black Americans, who for more than a century comprised the majority of the county's population. Fayetteville became the trading town for the agricultural area. In the first half of the 20th century, as agriculture became more mechanized, many Black American workers left the area in the Great Migration to northern and midwestern industrial cities, which had more jobs and offered less oppressive social conditions. A reverse migration has brought new residents to the South, and the city of Fayetteville has grown markedly since 1980, as has the county. The city's population increased from 2,715 in 1980 to 18,957 in 2020.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,350
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  6,564
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  5,798
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  5,500
• Eastern Bluebird

  Sialia sialis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,085
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  5,073
• Eastern Phoebe

  Sayornis phoebe (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  4,958
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,887

Largest nearby schools

• McIntosh High School
  High · Peachtree City · 1,695 students · 16.6:1 ratio
• Whitewater High School
  High · Fayetteville · 1,387 students · 15.6:1 ratio
• Fayette County High School
  High · Fayetteville · 1,368 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• Starrs Mill High School
  High · Fayetteville · 1,360 students · 15.1:1 ratio
• Sandy Creek High School
  High · Tyrone · 1,188 students · 13.7:1 ratio
• J.C. Booth Middle School
  Middle · Peachtree City · 1,160 students · 15.3:1 ratio
• Rising Starr Middle School
  Middle · Fayetteville · 926 students · 14:1 ratio
• Bennett's Mill Middle School
  Middle · Fayetteville · 891 students · 12.9:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.54 — 2022-09-12
  13 km NE of Jackson, Georgia