Fayette, AL news and local guide

The city's marker tells how the present town grew up a mile south of old Fayetteville. In 1883 Fayetteville's leaders refused to pay railroad engineer S. G. James $1,000 to bring the Georgia Pacific Railroad through town, so the line was laid through a swamp to the south known as Frog Level for its croaking bullfrogs. A post office there took the name Frog Level, then Latona, for the postmaster's wife, and the town eventually voted to be called Fayette. Courthouses burned in 1854, 1866 and 1911, and the 1911 fire destroyed everything downtown except the depot, which became the historical society museum in 2002. In 1928 Victor and Lucy Patterson began making Golden Eagle Syrup in Fayette, and it is still produced downtown. The Roxy Theatre opened in 1935 and drew its biggest crowds on May 18 to 20, 1940, for Gone With the Wind. The Fayette County Civic Center and Art Museum, in a 1931 school building, holds a major collection of folk art, including works by Jimmie Lee Sudduth. Sources Wikipedia: Fayette, Alabama The Historical Marker Database: History of Fayette (Alabama Tourism Department and the City of Fayette) The Historical Marker Database: Roxy Theatre/ Fayette's Newspapers