Fayetteville, city, seat of Cumberland County, south central North Carolina, at the head of navigation on the Cape Fear River; incorporated as a city 1893. The city serves as a marketing and distribution center for a timber-producing and farming region. Major manufactures include textiles, tires, electrical equipment, metal products, and chemicals and resins. The city is the site of Fayetteville State University (1867), Methodist College (1956), and a community college. Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base are nearby. The communities of Campbellton (settled 1739) and Cross Creek (1746) were merged in 1783 to form the town of Fayetteville, named for the marquis de Lafayette, the French general who aided the colonies during the American Revolution. The town served as the state capital from 1789 to 1793. In 1865, during the American Civil War, Union General William Sherman occupied the area. Population 59,507 (1980); 75,695 (1990); 121,015 (2000).
