| |
| | 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). |
| | The
Fayetteville Precinct Courthouse The
Second Floor once held two cells for prisoners.
TE photo 12-02 |
| | 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). |
| | 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. |
| |
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 InformationFayetteville
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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| Nearby
Destinations & Scenic Drives |
| | A
bluebonnet field near Fayetteville
TE photo 4-03 |
| | 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. |
| |
SPJST
Hall No. 1
TE photo, 2001 |
| |
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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