CityView Magazine

The Kyle House is an elegant town house of Italianate and Greek Revival style. James Kyle, a prosperous Scottish merchant, built the house in about 1855. It has 18 inch walls filled with sand and handmade brick, a precaution taken after the Great Fire of 1831 burned over 600 buildings in the downtown area. It also features a "builder's button," signifying that the house was paid for when completed. Ghost stories surround many of the historic buildings in Fayetteville, including Cool Spring Tavern, which was built in 1788 and has always been in the MacKethan family. Crawford MacKethan said his sister, Toi, had a mystifying experience. "She was upstairs and heard the sound of a screen door shut- ting and then heard a voice calling for Lovedy over and over. She went downstairs and never saw anyone," he said. "We do have an ancestor whose name was Lovedy." Another historic building known for having paranormal Cool Spring Tavern, having survived the 1831 fire, is believed to be the oldest existing structure in Fayetteville. It was named so because of its proximity to the spring of that name. In 1789, the tavern housed the state delegates who were in town for the state convention to ratify the U.S. Constitution. The building is designed in the Federal style. 44 | Anniversary Issue • 2011 visitors is the Kyle House. The house was built in the 1850s. "The Kyle House is the most talked about location in Fayette- ville having supernatural experiences," said Daws. Carrie King, head of the Dogwood Festival and the "Historic Hauntings: A Ghostly Ghost Tour" said they have encountered some trouble in front of the house during ghost tours. "One year tractors that pull the wagon kept stalling out in front of the house and it was never the same tractor," she said. "There was no explana- tion," she added. Also, she said the volunteers who lead the tour in the house prefer to wait outside during the tours. They say they are uneasy being in the house.

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