Welcome to Fayetteville, North Carolina! A great place to live!
Being a native of Fayetteville I guess you could say that I am kind of partial to this area. Wayyyy back in 1971 I was born in Cape Fear Valley Medical Center located in Fayetteville....so I guess you could say I am a lifelong resident. Other than a short 8 years of living in a neighboring county I have always been a resident of Fayetteville.
So what is it that makes the Fayetteville / Fort Bragg area a great place to live? Well, I am going to give you a few examples. Join me as we take this journey...won't you?
" The Market House"
Ahhh....the olde market house. The centerpiece of Fayetteville, NC.
The Market House was built in 1832 on the site of the old State House, which was destroyed by fire in 1831. It was within the walls of the State House that North Carolina had ratified the Constitution of the United States in 1789 and chartered the University of North Carolina. Also here North Carolina ceded her western lands to form the state of Tennessee.
The focal point of downtown Fayetteville, the Market House sits in the center of the intersection of Green, Gillespie, Person, and Hay Streets. For decades meat and produce were sold beneath its arches by local farmers, while the second floor was the town hall. In recent years the second floor has been used as a public library, chamber of commerce offices, and an art museum. Many distinguished visitors have spoken from its balconies.
Architecturally unique in North Carolina, the Market House is one of the few structures in America to use this town hall-market scheme found in England. The clock chimes the hours and the bell in the cupola still rings at 7:30 AM for breakfast, at 1:00 PM for dinner, at sundown, and at 9:00 PM, once the curfew hour.
"Airborne and Special Operations Museum"
The Airborne & Special Operations Museum is run jointly by the non-profit Museum Foundation, made up of local business, civic and government leaders, and the Department of the Army. Opened August 2000, it now stands as a stunning symbol of the teamwork that Fayetteville and Fort Bragg have developed over the past eighty years. Located at 100 Bragg Boulevard at the intersection with Hay Street, the museum is an anchor for downtown revitalization and a shining example of the local community's belief in the importance and viability of this historic part of the city.
A part of the U.S. Army Museum System, the museum tells the story of Army airborne and special operations units from their 1940 origin and movement to the Fayetteville area in March of 1942, through the present. The 59,000 square-foot, 22.5 million dollar museum houses many rare and impressive artifacts, including a C-47 "Skytrain" airplane suspended from the ceiling, complete with a paratrooper in the door. A fully restored CG-4A glider, one of only a handful that remain from WWII, is on display, along with two helicopters, a Sheridan tank, and a complete collection of uniforms, equipment and weapons spanning the sixty-year history of this exciting segment of the armed forces.
While the exhibit gallery provides a picture of the origins and progression of airborne and special operations training and warfare, the museum's movie and motion simulator give visitors an up-close look at what the Army's finest are capable of today. Narrated by Benjamin Franklin, the exclusive movie Descending from the Clouds is a larger than life depiction of modern airborne units in training. For those who need to be in on the action, a ride on the Pitch, Roll & Yaw Motion Simulator lets the visitor "ride along" as special operations soldiers jump, ski, ride and fly through high-speed training.
Museum hours: 10am - 5 pm, Tuesdays through Saturdays, Noon - 5 pm Sundays. Closed Monday; open Federal holiday Mondays. Admission is free; there is a charge for the movie and motion simulator. (910) 483-3003.
"The Crown Coliseum"
The nights, the lights and all the stars! Entertainment at the Crown delights thousands of all ages! The state-of-the-art Crown Coliseum opened in October, 1997 and has steadily proved to be the premier venue in eastern North Carolina, continuing to set new success records! This versatile facility hosts world-class concerts and performances, an ice floor for pro hockey and ice shows and a variety of configurations for assemblies and meetings.
The Crown was creatively designed to offer every seat in the house an excellent view and the building can be set up for multiple purposes with full house seating at 13,500 and half house seating at 7,000. The main exhibit floor is 20,000 square feet - plenty of space for a three-ring circus, a monster truck show or seating for 2,000 theater style, 1,000 for a banquet or 100 - 10 X 10 booths.
Fort Bragg is known as the "Home of the Airborne and Special Operations Forces." Fort Bragg is the home for the XVIII Airborne Corps and the 82nd Airborne Division. The US Army Special Operations Command and the US Army Parachute Team (the Golden Knights) also call Fort Bragg home.
Our Mission is to maintain the XVIII Airborne Corps as a strategic crisis response force, manned and trained to deploy rapidly by air, sea and land anywhere in the world, prepared to fight upon arrival and win.
These are just a few of the things that make me proud to call the Fayetteville / Ft. Bragg area home. Come, visit and I think you will agree. Fayetteville, North Carolina is a GREAT place to live!
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