July 25 marked a momentous day for the NC History Center on the Civil War, Emancipation & Reconstruction. The foundation for the museum announced building would begin soon at the location picked out on Arsenal Ave. The location is important; it was here that Fayetteville’s arsenal was located during the Civil War, and remnants of the building can still be seen in the area.
Gen. William T. Sherman targeted the arsenal during his Southern campaign.
The Fayetteville area saw its fair share of events during the Civil War, as did much of the state of North Carolina. The museum, however, won’t focus on the battles that were fought in the area, but on the reconstruction that happened after.
“It will be the first and only museum in North Carolina that focuses on an important part of our history. Important and frankly overlooked at this point in time, and that's Reconstruction. It’s the story of our state putting itself back together after the Civil War,” said Pamela Brewington Cashwell, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
Brewington Cashwell is proud of Fayetteville, having grown up in the area.
“This is home for me, I grew up here and went to Pine Forest with Kathy Jensen. Fayetteville is important to me, this is an exciting project,” she said.
The museum has had its detractors; not everyone was thrilled with another Civil War museum opening. But Brewington Cashwell and Mac Healy, chair of the N.C. Center on the Civil War, Emancipation & Reconstruction Foundation, are a part of a team of people who believe the stories of the everyday people living in the area need to be told.
The museum’s goal is to collect 100 stories from all 100 counties in North Carolina; 10,000 stories in all. The museum plans to display as many of the stories as they can.
The museum has been a fifteen year project in the making, and the July 25 ceremony marked the next phase of the project.
The planning is finished, according to Healy. The construction is what is coming next, and the project will be a big one. The center will be a 60,000 square foot space with exhibitions, classrooms, a library, an archive and a lecture space. It will also feature a gift shop and cafe.
“The center will be a place not to learn about the great battles of the Civil War, but of the stories of the very diverse people living in North Carolina during this tumultuous time and what they experienced,” said Adam Brakenberry. “It will also be a place where friends can meet for a cup of coffee or ice tea, and where their kids can play in the park.”
Brakenberry represented Vines Architecture, the firm responsible for the design of the building, at the ceremony. The steel structure is expected to be in place by Spring 2026, with a potential grand opening in the Spring of 2028.
In the meantime, The N.C. Center on the Civil War, Emancipation & Reconstruction Foundation will continue to teach school aged children local history and continuing lectures for the public. The Hari Jones Lecture Series is an example of the work the foundation has been doing locally.
Healy was quick to thank so many people for coming together on the project. From the center staff, to cultural resource personnel, and even to Fayetteville and Cumberland County government and leadership, Healy was grateful for everyone coming together to “get the project off the ground.”
“We brought together 30 historians. You can well imagine that 30 historians on a tragic time like the civil war might have different opinions. They have worked together, or apart at times, for the last ten years, building the story. That is all part of the process we have been through,” he said.
“The only way that these sorts of projects work is by everyone working together and pulling in the same direction,” said Brewington Cashwell. “The long history of this project points to the resilience of people in North Carolina.”

(Photo: A photograph of the model of the museum's building shows a landscaped area and part of the building. Photo courtesy of Marc Barnes and Vines Architecture)