The North Carolina General Assembly named Fayetteville for the French nobleman in 1783. Lafayette later came to Fayetteville as part of his year-long Farewell Tour of America at the request of President James Monroe in 1984. The aging Frenchman was welcomed by huge crowds in cities like New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, eager to see one of the last surviving heroes of the American Revolution. He also visited many smaller cities and towns on his tour of all 24 states.
Many years before his Grand Tour, Lafayette had been given an engraving of the State House in Fayetteville by a friend who had just returned from America. Touched by his friend’s story of the first town in America named after him, Lafayette decided to include Fayetteville on his tour.
Although there were numerous cities and towns at that time named Fayetteville, Lafayette, or Fayette, our city was the only one that he actually visited. Our citizens returned the honor with several banquets, receptions, and elaborate military reviews. Especially memorable was his reunion with one of his bodyguards from Yorktown, Isham Blake. Each site along this trail has a bronze marker that captures the importance of each stop during the tour.