History
Early settlers congregated around what was to become Fayetteville for security from Indian attacks. Andrew Crier, a son of John Crier, one of the three initial settlers was murdered by Indians. John Crier, was one of Austin's "Old Three Hundred" and although he never had a landmark named after him, the other two founding settlers did. Judge James Cummins gave his name to Cummins Creek and Captain James Ross had Ross Prairie named after him.
The town was first referred to as Fayetteville in 1837, it was also known as a precinct voting place named Alexander after the man who owned the polling place. One P. J. Shaver bought up all the available land centered around his hotel (the first in town) which was also the stage stop on the Bastrop-San Felipe stage route. He platted the town and gave the streets the names they keep today. It almost became Shaverville, but Shaver himself requested that it be named after his birthplace of Fayetteville, North Carolina.
A Masonic Lodge was formed in 1859 and the town furnished over 50 men to the Southern cause during the Civil War. The town was incorporated in 1882 and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad came through in 1887, the rails set in place by contracted convict labor. The English surnames gave way to Moravian and German ones after waves of immigrants entered the area.
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