DestinationFAY

One of the most prominent was Henry Evans, a free African-American who traveled through this area and realized it had a need for organized religion. His work would eventually lead to the founding of what is now Evans Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church on Cool Spring Street. The first chartered church in the city was First Presbyterian Church in 1800, which was led by Scottish people who were early merchants in the growing trading community. Another early group in the area were the Quakers. They established a meeting house in the northern part of the area but did not grow substantially over the years. Presbyterians founded some of the oldest churches in the area, like Longstreet, now on Fort Bragg, Old Bluff near Wade and the Barbecue church now located in Harnett County. Among the earliest Baptist churches was Cape Fear Baptist on Butler Nursery Road, which was established in 1756 as Particular Baptist Church. The early churches in the heart of Fayetteville were Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopalian and Baptist. St. John's Episcopal Church was established following the Revolutionary War after it recruited a minister from the St. James Parish in Wilmington. The Episcopal and Presbyterian congregations downtown once had strong ties, so strong that they held staggered services so members of each church could worship at both. Worship at the Baptist and Methodist churches tended to be more evangelical in the early days. The landscape of downtown Fayetteville today features six churches that are listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. They include First Presbyterian, St. John's Episcopal, First Baptist on Old and Anderson Streets, Evans Metropolitan AME Zion, Hay Street Methodist and St. Joseph's Episcopal. Evans Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church First Baptist Church 67 DestinationFAY 2021-2022

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