Fayetteville the county seat of Fayette County, WV  was established as Vandalia in 1837 and named for Abraham Vandal, former owner of the land upon which the town's  located. Chartered as Fayetteville in 1883, the town was named in honor of Marquis de Lafayette  French revolutionary patriot. 

Tobacco farming had became an important early industry in Fayette County by the mid-1870's, at which time the Fayetteville Tobacco Factory was producing 2,568 pounds of tobacco annually. The rapid industrial and economic development of Fayetteville occurred following the completion of the route of Chesapeake & Ohio Railway through the region in 1873, which facilitated the development of coal mining operations in the virtually untapped New River Coalfield. Soon afterwards, numerous mines opened within a few miles of Fayetteville, 

Through the late 1800s and early 1900s, Fayetteville prospered as the legal center of the New River Coal Fields, at which time many of its stately homes were built, including the now-famous White Horse Inn.

In the 1980s, Fayetteville was opened to interstate traffic by the construction of the The New River Gorge Bridge  . As a result of the establishment of the New River Gorge National River the city became a well-known tourist destination. Fayetteville's National Historic District is among the best preserved in the region, and visitors often stroll its streets in the evenings after dining at several of the town's restaurants.

The Main Street

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