Fayetteville [key]. 1 City (2020 pop. 93,949), seat of Washington co., NW Ark., in the Ozarks; inc. 1836. It is an agricultural trade center with canneries and food processors. The Univ. of Arkansas main campus is here and its agricultural experiment station nearby; some technological industries have grown around the university. During the Civil War, the city was occupied by Union forces (1863–65); the battles of Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove were fought nearby. 2 City (2020 pop. 208,501), seat of Cumberland co., S central N.C., at the head of navigation on the Cape Fear River; inc. 1783. An inland port, connected by channel to the Intracoastal Waterway, Fayetteville is a marketing and shipping center in a farm and timbering area. It has textile, wood products, and chemical industries. Settled as two towns (1739) by Highland Scots, it was a Tory center during the American Revolution. The two towns were merged during the war, and in 1783 were renamed for the Marquis de Lafayette. Fayetteville was state capital from 1789—93; a state convention (1789) here ratified the U.S. Constitution. During the Civil War, Sherman occupied the city and razed its arsenal (1865). The city is the seat of Fayetteville State Univ. and Methodist College. Nearby Fort Bragg now dominates its economy.
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