CityView Magazine

M MasseyHillMemories BY KEN LANCASTER name of the mill in that neighborhood. There were several mills, such as Tolar Hart, which is near where The Fayette- ville Observer's offices are today, and to the east of Southern Avenue was Lake Dale Mill. Each section had their own base- ball team and poker houses, which were common institutions around mill villages. My great grandfather, John McPhail Geddie, moved to Massey Hill in the early part of the 1900s and started a gro- cery store at the intersection of Winslow Street and Southern Avenue. He was a state senator who represented Cumberland County in the 1897 Senate. He moved his family from the Cedar Creek area of Cumberland County to Massey Hill be- cause the only doctor east of the Cape Fear River was a Dr. Averitt, and aſter Dr. Averitt died, having a local doctor was very important to people in Massey Hill. [By the way, Dr. Averitt had a brother by the name of Her- sey Averitt. Hersey Averitt was an attorney for the Massey Hill School Board. My grandfather, John A. Hair, was the assey Hill in the 1920's and '30's was a mill village and the respective mills had different names. Each section or area of Massey Hill was known by the school board chairman. They would oſten meet to discuss school affairs at my grandparents' home and they became close friends. Little did anyone know that two generations later I would Marry Mr. Averitt's granddaughter and she would marry Mr. Hair's grandson.] My grandmother, Mattie Geddie, married John A. Hair and my grandfather went into business with his father-in- law and the grocery became Geddie and Hair. Next to the grocery was a pharmacy owned by L.E. McKnight, who met and married another of the Geddie children. My grandfather Hair also owned a dairy farm that was originally located near the old prison camp at the intersection of Gillespie Street and Southern Avenue. The dairy was called Hillside Dairy and he delivered milk all over the downtown area of Fayetteville and as far away as Haymount Hill, where I grew up. Both of my parents worked at the dairy and that is where their courtship began. Later, my grandfather moved the dairy from Southern Avenue to a farm, which would be next to the current airport. My cousin remembers the school children and parents being warned that Mr. Hair's cows, and especially his bull, were be- ing walked to the new location and for everyone to stay inside for fear of the bull getting loose. CV CityViewNC.com | 63

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