CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1229832
Cit yV iewN C.co m | 21 Steadfast symbols of faith BY KIM HASTY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHEW WONDERLY Perhaps now more than ever, the majestic steeples of Fayetteville, standing steadfast and reaching above the highest of branches toward heaven, offer all of us a measure of faith and comfort as symbols of solid endurance. They feature the finest in architecture, the sweetest of chimes, the most stable of hidden framework and great diversity in both design and the congregations that are beckoned to worship beneath them. Church steeples have borne witness to devastation, despair and strife. Yet they also stand to affirm today the towering invincibility that comes with perseverance. Fayetteville is home to some 200 churches representing more than 20 denominations, including 40 that are at least 100 years old. The 14 featured here are just a sampling of our city's iconic steeples. C O V E R S T O R Y CityView The STeepleS of fayeTTeville INFORM. INVOLVE. INSPIRE. www.CityViewNC.com | April 2020 First Presbyterian Church 102 Ann Street Chartered in 1800, First Presbyterian is on the National Register of Historic Places and holds the distinction as Fayetteville's oldest church. Yet, the church and its original steeple were destroyed in the great fire of 1831, along with more than 600 other buildings. "e tall steeple of the Presbyterian church seemed a pyramid of fire; for a while it stood firm, soon the bell descended with a crash," wrote resident Henry Rowland Jr. "e steeple trembled, tottered and fell." Ann Highsmith, who has been a member of the church her entire life, said that when the steeple was rebuilt, a new bell replaced the one the fire damaged. "e news of the fire traveled around the country," she said. "Back then, fire was the most dreaded thing. A little congregation in Troy, New York made a bell as a replacement." Today the bell chimes automatically. "But I remember as a child it was rung by hand," Highsmith said. "I remember watching the custodian pull on a rope to ring the bell at weddings." Highsmith said the inscription on the bell reads: "I perished in the flames in 1831, but I arose from the ashes."