Fayetteville History Museum

325 Franklin Street; (910) 433-1457; (910) 433-1458; (910) 433-1944
Museum Hours: Tues.-Sat. 10 am-4 pm; Closed Sun. and Mon.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Fayetteville History Museum is the hub for history in Downtown Fayetteville. From the history enthusiast to families looking for fun, there is something for everyone here. Staff operates the museum, museum annex and other city owned historic sites. The museum is a wonderful educational resource for the City of Fayetteville filled with artifacts and exhibits focused on local history. Opportunities are available for tours or presentations for various interests and age levels. In addition to ongoing activities, we offer special programs throughout the year.

About the Museum

Located in the beautifully restored 1890 Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad Depot, the museum offers two floors of engaging, artifact-filled exhibits. The rich history of our area is told from pre-history through the early 20th century. Favorite spots in the museum include the steamboat interactive and the recreated Station Agent’s Office. Exhibits are frequently rotated.

Museum Annex

Conveniently located next door to the museum, the annex continues Fayetteville’s story with additional displays. Vintage cars, the recreated 1920s gas station, and Fayetteville’s 1880s Silsby Steam Pump Engine are a delight. Exhibit topics also include plank roads, fire department history, and farm life.

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EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

The Fayetteville History Museum is a wonderful, educational resource for the City of Fayetteville. In addition to a self-guided experience, guided tours are offered for schools, home school groups, scouts, churches, civic groups, military units, and more. Tours are free and can be adapted to suit the needs of a wide range of ages and educational objectives. 

For more information or to schedule a tour or program call 910-433-1457, 910-433-1458 or 910-433-1944. Tours have maximum/minimum participant requirements. We open early for groups and tours can be shortened, lengthened, or tailored to meet your group’s needs.

Tours of the Museum and Annex

Let staff lead the way through our exhibits. Our tours emphasize transportation and local history using a “now and then” approach to make the past relevant. 

Downtown Walking Tours

Discover the history of local landmarks and walk in the footsteps of historically significant personalities with a tour of Fayetteville’s Downtown Historic District. Your customized tour may include a visit to the Market House, the Fayetteville Light Infantry Museum and Armory, some of the historic churches, Liberty Point, Cool Springs Tavern, and Cross Creek Cemetery.

Preschool Group Special Emphasis Tours

We offer themed experiences for visitors ages 3 to 5. Each program includes a sing-along, story time, and exploration of specific artifacts in the museum and annex.

Local History Talks

Need a speaker for your upcoming program or event? Staff at the museum offer presentations on a variety of local history topics to organizations and groups in the community. Whether it is military heritage, historic preservation, or anything related to Fayetteville or Cumberland County’s history, we can help make your program a historical success.

Volunteer Opportunities

Many people enjoy visiting the Fayetteville History Museum. Did you know that you can expand your experience by becoming a volunteer? At the museum there are a number of opportunities: greeting visitors, assisting with our collections, or helping with our exhibits. Expand your knowledge of local history and the museum’s reach into the community. Help us let the history of Fayetteville and Cumberland County shine.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Massey Hill Mill House Open House

Join museum staff for a look inside the Massey Hill House Museum located next to the Massey Hill Recreation Center. Learn about three historic textile mills and their impact on the community they helped to build. Stop in between noon and 1pm. The Fayetteville History Museum invites attendees to register for this even by calling 910-433-1457.
All ages; Sat., Sept. 21; 11 am-noon; Free

City Market at the Museum- Fall Harvest Fest

Visit our market on October 19 for a day of fun games and giveaways. Celebrate our farmers and crafters and the creative energy they bring to downtown Fayetteville. The market is hosted on the grounds of the museum every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm. The market season runs from April through December but a number of vendors appear year round. 
All ages; Sat., Oct. 19; 9 am-1 pm; Free 

Established shortly after the Civil War, this sacred space is the final resting place for many Fayetteville citizens who lived in the 19th and 20th centuries. Cross Creek Cemetery #2 includes Brookside, an early municipally owned African American Cemetery as well as our community’s early Jewish Cemetery. Museum staff will lead the tour every Friday in October. The tour begins at the corner of Lamon and Ann streets. The cemetery is located between Grove, Ann and Lamon streets. Parking is available along Lamon Street. Participants will travel in the cemetery, requiring moderate walking. Visitors are invited to attend in costume on Oct. 25 for a special Halloween fact-or-treat event.
10+; Fri.; Oct. 4, 11, 18, 25; noon-1:30 pm; Free

Downtown Walking Tour

While the museum may be closed on Mon., we are turning historic downtown into a museum tour site on Mon., Nov. 4. Join staff as we highlight architecture, historic events and people of the past throughout downtown. Tour begins at noon and may last an hour and a half. This tour requires moderate walking. 
All ages; Mon., Nov. 4; noon; Free

Feed your Mind: Travel and Trade on the River at the Cape Fear Botanical Garden 

The Cape Fear River runs through the heart of Fayetteville and the Botanical Garden. As we approach America's 250th anniversary, visit the Garden and learn the story of this amazing river and its role in the history of America, the founding of the city, the civil war, economic trade, and the development of our region. The Fayetteville History Museum is partnering with the Cape Fear Botanical Garden for a special presentation about the Cape Fear River. The event will be held at the Gardens located at 536 N. Eastern Blvd.  Bring your lunch to enjoy a fascinating presentation while you eat and your walking shoes, if you want to go see the river after the presentation! Registration required through the Cape Fear Botanical Garden by calling 910-486-0221.
18+; Thurs., Nov. 14; 11:30 am-1 pm

A Dickens Holiday 

City Market at the Museum Christmas Celebrations

Frosty Fayetteville Scavenger Hunt

Black History Month Scavenger Hunt 

E.E. Smith House Open House

America’s 250th Birthday Celebration

EXHIBITS

The museum features a number of exhibits to highlight specific people, events and places that impacted Fayetteville and Cumberland County. We encourage you to visit us often, as there is always something new to see and learn about the history of our area.
All ages; Tues.-Sat.; 10 am-4 pm; Free

Pre -Contact Fayetteville: Our Unwritten Story

Our community’s Pre -Contact origins began long before the story of our town when American Indians inhabited the Upper Cape Fear region for thousands of years before Scottish settlers arrived. Learn Fayetteville’s unwritten story and view material culture, or artifacts, that inform our limited understanding of the cultures and peoples who came before us.
All ages; Tues.-Sat.; 10 am-4 pm; Free

ONGOING EXHIBITS INCLUDE:

African Americans on the River

This exhibit honors Black History Month. African Americans played a pivotal role in making the Cape Fear River an important and successful travel and trade route for our state. This exhibit highlights numerous free and enslaved Blacks that integral to the story of the Cape Fear. African Americans on the River is located within our large Cape Fear River gallery.
All ages; During museum hours; Free

Banking in Fayetteville

Banking in Fayetteville takes a look at the beginnings of banking in Fayetteville. The exhibit will include a selection of old bank notes, ledgers, bonds, and other artifacts to showcase the colorful days when local banks printed their own money. From the earliest days of banking in North Carolina, Fayetteville was a leading center of commerce and banking.
All ages; During museum hours; Free

Literary Fayetteville: Pages of Our Past

Literary Fayetteville: Pages of Our Past is the newest exhibit at the Fayetteville History Museum. This exhibit showcases rare books concerning Fayetteville. It also examines Fayetteville’s authors, publishers and printers, binders, book dealers and libraries. With a period of focus from the late 18^th century to the mid-20^th century, the exhibit features over 50 books and pamphlets. Each has a unique story and connection to Fayetteville to engage the reader and historian in all of us.
All ages; During museum hours; Free.

African American Architects and Builders

This exhibition reveals the extraordinary work of some prominent Black architects and builders in Fayetteville. The period of significance spans the Antebellum period through the early 20th century. The purpose of this exhibit is not only to educate but to awaken interest in the preservation of surviving structures attributed to Black artisans. The work of African American builders represents an important tangible link to the past and speaks to the many contributions of these talented artisans. Their hard work and craftsmanship has given Fayetteville some of its most treasured landmarks.
All ages; During museum hours; Free.

Fayetteville Fire Department History

Visit an exhibit in our Museum Annex devoted to the history of the Fayetteville Fire Department. Learn how the all-volunteer force established in 1791 has grown into a proud, professional team of first responders who help keep Fayetteville safe. The exhibit features numerous artifacts including two restored Fayetteville Fire Department vehicles, a 1880s Silsby horse drawn pumper, and a 1920s LaFrance fire truck. This exhibit will continue to grow and evolve. 
All ages; During museum hours; Free 

Camp Bragg to Fort Liberty

On Aug. 21, 1918, General Orders Number 77 was issued by the War Department establishing Camp Bragg as a Field Artillery Cantonment. To commemorate the Fort Bragg centennial, the museum has revamped its Camp Bragg and Pope Army Air Field exhibit. For 100 years, soldiers and pilots have come from all over the county to train and work just north of Fayetteville. This exhibit focuses on these two installations during the time frame of 1918 to the eve of World War II. The establishment and growth of these two US Military installations, now Fort Liberty and Pope Army Airfield, has been pivotal in our national defense and key to our community’s identity.
All ages; During museum hours; Free

Fayetteville “Over There”- Centennial of World War I

This area’s organizations, businesses, institutions, families and individual men and women and children rose to the occasion when our nation entered World War I. With a focus on both military service and efforts on the home front, this exhibit commemorates the centennial of the United States in the Great War. Fayetteville and Cumberland County made every effort to return the favor of our town’s namesake, Lafayette.                             
All ages; During museum hours; Free

Lafayette in Fayetteville

Fayetteville is the first U.S. city named for the Marquis de Lafayette and the only city named for him that he visited.  When he came back to America as a guest of the nation, the city rolled out the proverbial red carpet to welcome the famed nobleman and general. Learn more about the places he visited and the local people he met on March 4 and 5, 1825 as well as how this community has celebrated Lafayette.
All ages; During museum hours; Free

Modern Greece

Artifacts recovered from the Confederate blockade runner Modern Greece are the focus of the exhibit. Sunken at the mouth of the Cape Fear River in 1862 by the Union blockade, the recovery effort of this ship and her cargo was the beginning of underwater archaeology efforts for North Carolina. The exhibit also highlights the significant connection between Fayetteville and Wilmington via the Cape Fear River, particularly during the Civil War.
All ages; During museum hours; Free

Local Law Enforcement

Law and order has been maintained in the Fayetteville/Cumberland County area for over 250 years. Visitors can take a look back at pivotal moments for police, sheriff, and other law enforcement agencies. This exhibit highlights some of the organizational changes, influential personnel, and tools of the trade in local law enforcement.
All ages; During museum hours; Free

Civil War Exhibit

Cumberland County Goes to War is our exhibit commemorating the American Civil War. This exhibit features artifacts, pictures, documents, and educational panels which explore Cumberland County’s war experience both on the battlefield as well as the sacrifices made on the home front.
All ages; During museum hours; Free

Railroading in Fayetteville

Fayetteville’s historic importance as a transportation hub involved river, roads and rails. From an early rail system in the 1820s to the Western Railroad bringing coal and iron to the passenger and freight connections established by the CF&YV Railroad and Atlantic Coastline Railroad, train travel has been vital to this community’s economy and wellbeing. Railroad enthusiasts will enjoy the artifacts and information highlighted in this exhibit.
All ages; During museum hours; Free

DIRECTIONS