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A
weekday in Fayetteville is like a Sunday anywhere else.
TE photo |
Entering
Fayetteville
A
short five miles from busy Highway 71 on FM 955,
you'll pass green fields, contended sheep, and few cars. Take a deep
breath and cross the tracks; you're entering The Fayette Zone
(population 261). |
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The Fayetteville
Precinct Courthouse
The Second
Floor once held two cells for prisoners.
TE photo 12-02
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Fayetteville
is said to be "the smallest municipality in America that has
a chiming clock."
Photo ©Hester + Hardaway |
The
Precinct Courthouse
>
Fayetteville, like Round
Top has a white wooden precinct courthouse on its square. Precinct
courthouses weren't required by law, but the citizenry felt they would
be nice to have in case of rainy elections. This one dates from 1860,
the same date as the LaGrange Masonic Building. The Fayette County
community of Winchester
also once had a precinct courthouse. ... more |
Town Square
Fayetteville's
square is complete on four sides with no gaps - which is something
of a rarity in Texas. Several buildings, although now serving different
purposes, still retain the original storefronts, in some cases even
the previous signage.
At least four of the current buildings were previously saloons. The
JP's office is conveniently next to the Beer Hall (and Confectionery).
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The
recently restored Red and White. Attached to it is the ghost of the
Dawn Theater.
TE photo, 2001 |
The
Red & White and The Dawn Theater
My uncle, Joe Mynar, owned and operated The Dawn Theater for many
years and I went to many movies there throughout the Fifties and I
into the early Sixties. Another uncle, Rudy Mynar, owned and operated
The Red and White Store (attached to the Dawn) for many years - my
cousins and I spent a lot of time there also. My cousin, Tom Rohde,
operated the popcorn machine for years at the theater. My dad, John
Mynar, ran the Mynar Cafe in town.
- Jo Ann Mynar, December 01, 2003 |
Included
on the square are durable benches with plenty of vacant seats and
a bandstand that is kept freshly painted and in good repair. The former
Humble Gas Station (c. 1926) has recently been reopened, selling antique
automobile parts.
There used to be a windmill on the Fayetteville square as well as
a well. A fire in 1893 took out four downtown buildings and until
recently, the firehouse occupied a prominent place on the corner of
the square.
The Former Humble
Gas Station
(c. 1926) and antique gas pumps
The Fayette County
Town Square Oak and Its Guardian (April 2003)
During his twice-daily constitutional walk through town, Cleve couldn't
help but notice the declining condition of the huge Live Oak tree
that grows near the precinct courthouse on the town square - a tree
surrounded by an ocean of asphalt. ... more
The Sewer
Commemorative Marker - It's a peaceable town where they celebrate
the new sewer system. ... more
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West
Side Shamrock
Photo © Hester + Hardaway |
The
West Side Market and
Lake Fayette
Visiting fishermen can get ice, gas and supplies (beer) at the West
Side Market including the hard to find imported-from-Nebraska "Water
Dogs." These are a mysterious sort of salamander that attract fish
like a magnet attracts steel filings.
Fishermen can spend the weekend at Fayette Power Plant Lake, The heated
waters of Lake Fayette provide year-round fishing and record catches.
Storeowners Jim and Fran King love Fayetteville so much they are willing
to commute from New
Ulm. |
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The Water Tower
"Under this sign you will find postage"
Photo ©Hester + Hardaway |
The Fayetteville Water Tower is a classic small town tower dating
from the late 20s. People who know about such things say the maintenance
and upkeep of this tower make it one of (if not the) best example
of its type in Texas.
The lack of a high school mascot in screaming colors or spray painted
names gives it a Class "A" Rating from the Water Tower
Appreciation Society. |
The
Fayette Area Heritage Museum - On the Square.
There's not an
uninteresting item in the place - from the prehistoric (a saber-toothed
tiger skull) to the recent (an autographed 8x10 of Sissy
Spacek, whose great-grandfather was a prominent Fayettevillian).
The museum also serves as the Chamber of Commerce.
Fayetteville celebrates "Lick Skillet Days" every year in September
to commemorate the time when it was known by that name. Latecomers
to picnics and celebrations where told to "lick the skillet" after
the food had all been eaten. You have to admit it's better than "Get-here-earlier-next-year-Days."
Today, even as
a tourist attraction with antique stores, cafes and bed &
breakfasts, Fayetteville retains its hometown charm. It's increasingly
hard to find the 19th century combination of church bells, mockingbirds,
the chiming of the courthouse clock, train horns and coyotes.
There is no
"wrong side of the tracks" in Fayetteville. The railroad curves
around Fayetteville with four crossings. Regular engineers politely
"feather" their horns at night, but when a substitute engineer fills
in - the whole town knows it. At one time four passenger trains a
day went through Fayetteville, including World War II Prisoner-of-War
trains.
Fayetteville
Tourist Information
Fayetteville
Chamber Of Commerce
- 888 575 4553.
PO Box 217 Fayetteville, TX
http://www.fayettevilletx.com/
Contact them for current events and more tourist information.
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Hotels
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Grange Hotels
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| Nearby Destinations
& Scenic Drives |
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A
bluebonnet field near Fayetteville
TE photo 4-03 |
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The
Sunday School Class picnic
Courtesy Fayette Heritage Museum & Archives |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Early
settlers congregated around what was to become Fayetteville for security
from Indian attacks. Andrew Crier, a son of John Crier,
one of the three initial settlers was murdered by Indians. John
Crier, was one of Austin's "Old Three Hundred" and although
he never had a landmark named after him, the other two founding settlers
did. Judge James Cummins gave his name to Cummins Creek
and Captain James Ross had Ross Prairie named after
him.
The town was first referred to as Fayetteville in 1837, it was also
known as a precinct voting place named Alexander after the
man who owned the polling place. One P. J. Shaver bought up
all the available land centered around his hotel (the first in town)
which was also the stage stop on the Bastrop-San Felipe stage route.
He platted the town and gave the streets the names they keep today.
It almost became Shaverville, but Shaver himself requested that it
be named after his birthplace of Fayetteville, North Carolina.
A Masonic Lodge was formed in 1859 and the town furnished over 50
men to the Southern Cause during the Civil War. The town was incorporated
in 1882 and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad came through in
1887, the rails set in place by contracted convict labor.
The English surnames gave way to Moravian and German ones after waves
of immigrants entered the area. |
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SPJST
Hall No. 1
TE photo, 2001 |
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Former
drug store sign
TE photo, 2001 |
- I was born
in Fayetteville, and spent my first 14 years there before my family
moved to La Grange. The pictures of some of the buildings, particularly
the old KJT building
bring back many memories of wedding dances and church feasts that
I attended as a child. I go back occasionally to reminisce about
my childhood and visit the cemetery
where my father and my grandparents are buried. Thanks for the
memories. - Doris (Liska) Eldridge, August 09, 2003
- A very nice
site to visit when you want to remember a great time (better a
lot of great times) in Fayetteville, as an exchange student from
Germany. - Felix Bach, Irxleben, Germany, July, 26, 2003
- Subject:
Thanks from Japan!
Just wanted to thank you for a great site.
I grew up in Fayetteville and went to school there (K-12, Class
of '90). I've been living in Okinawa, Japan for the past eleven
years. Five as a Marine, the last six as a contractor still working
for the military.
I was able to download some pictures that brought back lots of
memories, from Jr. almost decapitating himself when we were TP'ing
the square at Halloween (if you saw it it was funny), to Lutz
burnin' rubber around town. I now have a screensaver to give me
a taste of home. - Sean Dominey
- I really
enjoyed this site. I am a decendent of James P. Shaver.
His daughter Emma Lou married Carroll M. Breeding, and his daughter
Mary A. Breeding married my Grandfather Clarence L. Collins. The
Breeding home place is right outside of Fayetteville. We had a
reunion there a few years ago. I really enjoyed seeing pictures
from Fayetteville; it's like being back there. l'lI look forward
to seeing new things on your site. - Sandra Prochnow
Note: James Shaver was Fayetteville's Founder.
- Ah, Fayetteville!
It's very beautiful there.
One time years ago, on a wandering-the-back-roads day trip, my
pals and I had lunch on the square. We stopped in at that red
brick hotel on the corner, to see what it was like. Nobody was
home, though we walked right in, up and down the stairs, in and
out of rooms...nobody at all. I kind of liked that. - Carol
Pirie, Assistant Director, Texas Film Commission
- Did I mention
the biggest bass I've ever personally caught, was in Fayette County?
..... - Kramer Wetzel, May 21, 2002
- I learned
more than I ever wanted to know about our fair city. How do you
do it? It's beautiful, edifying, sarcastic, ironic, delightful,
thoughtful, irreverent, and BRAVE!! And I love the view from your
backyard. - Paul Hester, Fayetteville
More
"You
must remember this ..."
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Sources:
Fayette
County: Past and Present, Edited by Mrs. Marjorie L. Williams, 1976
Fayette
County - Her History and Her People, Frank Lotto, 1902
An Early History of Fayette County by Leonie Rummel Weyland and
Houston Wade, 1936
Personal
Interview with Martha Tauch, Flatonia, Texas, November, 1999
Editor's Note:
We thank Hester & Hardaway for their exceptional photographs of
Fayetteville.
The staff of TE would like to say hello to their Fayetteville
neighbors. |
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