The old Virginia live oak tree along Hay and Hillsboro streets by the Airborne & Special Operations Museum has weathered everything from tropical storms to hurricanes and has stood vigil over downtown for more than two centuries.
The stories, if you only can imagine, it can tell about city history dating back to the June 20, 1775 Liberty Point Resolves, signed at the apex of Bow and Person streets in protest against Great Britain during the American Revolution.
“This iconic Virginia live oak, located in downtown Fayetteville, is believed to have been a silent witness to local history 250 years ago, when the Liberty Point Resolves were supposedly posted by local patriots opposing King George’s rule,” said Renee Lane, executive director for the Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation.
Lore has it that signers of the resolves posted the document on the old tree for townspeople to know that we were a people who stood for freedom and independence, and the tree’s part in that liberty is scheduled to be told at 8 a.m. Saturday in celebration of the U.S. Army’s 250th Anniversary, commemorating the establishment of the Continental Army on June 14, 1775.
Charles Allen with Green Biz Nursery & Landscaping, according to a published report, said in 2016 the oak is likely more than 200 years old and also said there is “a good chance it was there” in 1775.
“Receiving an America 250 NC grant award, along with assistance from the Le Marquis de Lafayette Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, made it possible to give the Liberty tree this permanent recognition,” Lane said. “The ceremony will feature proclamations, guest speakers and the unveiling of the new historical marker. Following the ceremony, attendees can enjoy Camp Flintlock, where colonial reenactors will offer hands-on activities in the museum’s Reflection Garden.”
Both events, according to a news release, are free and open to the public.
Fayetteville City Council Member Lynne Bissette Greene is scheduled to read a proclamation on behalf of the city, according to Lane. Kirk deViere, chair of the Cumberland Board of County Commissioners, is scheduled to read a proclamation on behalf of the county. Charles Broadwell, former publisher and editor of The Fayetteville Observer, will be there to tell about the lineage of the tree to include its place in the newspaper’s history.
The U.S. Army XVIII Airborne Corps on Fort Bragg also is hosting National Airborne Day, scheduled for 9 a.m. at the ASOM.
“It is a day of celebration with the museum’s 25th anniversary,” Lane said, “and the 85th anniversary of the first U.S. Army parachute jump.”
An 11:30 a.m. proclamation reaffirming a partnership between Fort Bragg and surrounding communities while honoring the military airborne heritage, according to a news release, will feature Lt. Gen. Gregory K. Anderson, commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps, and Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
A tree and a newspaper
The newspaper, circa 1816, was purchased in 1923 by William J. McMurray, and the northern newspaperman decided to move its offices from Green Street to Hay and Hillsboro streets, where the old Virginia live oak stood.
McMurray turned over the publication in 1924 to his brother-in-law, Charles S. Wilson, who became publisher, according to published reports. When Wilson died in 1949, his brother-in-law, Richard M. Lilly, became publisher. After Lilly’s death in 1971, his son-in-law, the late Ramon Yarborough, became publisher.
Under Yarborough’s leadership, The Fayetteville Observer-Times and The Fayetteville Observer realized phenomenal success, which included a daily circulation upwards of 70,000 and Sunday circulation of 85,000.
“When the family sold the downtown properties to the city for the construction of the ASOM in 1998, we intentionally held out the parcel with the tree on it,” said Tony Chavonne, general manager of the newspaper from 1992-2004 and who later served four terms as city mayor (2005-2013). “And Mr. Yarborough and the family committed to continue to maintain and protect it, even after the ASOM was built.”
The oak tree adjacent to the train depot was as sacred to Ramon Yarborough as the old Goss printing press behind the downtown executive newspaper and editorial offices. And as sacred as the KBA offset printing press after the newspaper offices were relocated to Whitfield Street in 1977.
“Fayetteville Publishing Co. donated the corner plot with the old oak tree to the ASOM Foundation after the sale of the newspaper business in 2016,” said Broadwell, publisher and editor of the newspaper from 2000-2016 until the newspaper was sold to GateHouse Media, a national media chain. “The oak tree and the restored Liberty Point building on Person Street had remained part of our downtown footprint for decades after the newspaper relocated to the Massey Hill neighborhood and later sold our former Hay Street building to make way for the museum.
“Over the years my cousin Ray Yarborough would help keep the massive oak in good trim whenever we would get a call from the museum or the city that one of its low-hanging limbs had snared an unsuspecting pedestrian.
“I learned more about the history of the tree thanks to the writing of Roy Parker Jr., no doubt with help from our staff librarian Daisy Maxwell, and also from Matt Leclercq,” Broadwell said about Leclercq, a reporter who wrote about the Virginia oak and who later became the newspaper’s executive editor. Leclercq was succeeded by the late Lorry Williams, who led the newspaper until resigning to become managing editor for our CityView Magazine and CityView Today digital publication.
Epilogue
The old Virginia oak has stood the test of time as “silent witness” to our downtown from the Cool Spring Tavern and Gen. Marquis de Lafayette’s visit in 1825 to the Great Fire of 1831 and the Great Flood of 1945, to the soldiers celebrating a Friday night payday in the pubs and bars, to the “ladies of the night” perusing Hay Street, to the 1980s’ transformation of Hay Street’s 400 and 500 blocks, to the civil rights protests of the early 1960s and the 2020 unrest at the Market House, to the tropical storms and hurricanes, which came our way.
And not to forget the Liberty Point Resolves.
“After years of working with Mr. Yarborough and seeing the keen attention he paid to the care of this tree, a permanent marker on the 250th anniversary is most appropriate,” Renee Lane said. “Now, the public can read about the history and lore behind this beautiful Virginia live oak.”
The stories the old oak could tell.
“Fayetteville’s strongest roots are there on the corner near the museum and the train station downtown,” said Charles Broadwell, nephew of Ramon Yarborough. “It’s such a great tree — really a living landmark.”
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
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