Facts About Fayetteville
- That original Fayetteville was named for General Lafayette, a French general who helped the colonies gain independence in the American Revolutionary War.
- The city hosts the Walmart Shareholders Meetings each year at the Bud Walton Arena.
- Fayetteville was the first home of Bill and Hillary Clinton while they both taught law at the University of Arkansas School of Law.
- The 2022 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships was held in Fayetteville.
- Fayetteville’s highest temperature was 111 °F or 43.9 °C, recorded on July 14, 1954. The lowest temperature recorded was −24 °F or −31 °C, on February 12, 1899.
- The city of Fayetteville is colloquially known as the “Track Capital of the World” due to the success and prestige of the University of Arkansas’s cross-country and track & field programs.
- Fayetteville is the second-most populous city in Arkansas, with an estimated population of 99,285, as of 2022.
- Fayetteville is the county seat of Washington County, and the most populous city in Northwest Arkansas.
- Fayetteville is also the namesake of the Fayetteville Shale, a geological formation which has recently become an epicentre for natural gas extraction by hydraulic fracturing.
- The city is the first in America to be awarded the designation of “Bike City” by the Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body of cycling.
- Fayetteville owns its wastewater operation, including a network of pipes and lift stations which convey wastewater to the city’s two wastewater treatment plants.
- The first store in Fayetteville was opened by John Nye in a small building constructed by James Holmsley.
- In the past, the northwest region of Arkansas was designated as Native American territory. Initially utilized as a hunting ground by the Osage, it subsequently became the ancestral homeland of the Cherokee tribe. When pioneers arrived in the Fayetteville area during the 1820s, it remained under territorial status.
- Fayetteville’s most recent annexation occurred in 1982 when White Rock was added to the city limits.
- The elevation of Fayetteville is 1,378 ft or 420 m, above sea level.
- Fayetteville was incorporated in 1836 and received a city charter in 1859, abolished by the legislature in 1867; reincorporated as a town in 1870, it again became a city in 1906.
- Fayetteville currently thrives within an agricultural and resort region, where farm-centred industries, food processing, aluminium products, tools, and clothing play pivotal roles in the economy.
- The city of Fayetteville has 47 parks and 16 natural areas.
- Fayetteville has a strong BBQ tradition, and the majority of the city’s BBQ joints serve Memphis-style barbecue, with some Texas influence.
- Originally named Washington until 1829, the city adopted the name Fayetteville after Fayetteville, Tennessee, the place from which a significant number of its settlers originated.
