A decade ago, Fayetteville lost an iconic restaurant and the city’s Black residents lost an important Murchison Road gathering space when the beloved Vick’s Drive-In closed in 2014.
Vick’s, like many Greek-owned restaurants at the time, was one of the few white-owned restaurants in the city that allowed Black patrons when it first opened in 1957. Since its closure in 2014, no other Black community gathering spot has been able to fill the hole left by Vick’s.
Fayetteville’s historically Black Murchison Road
Murchison Road, a historically Black area in Fayetteville, stretches south from Fort Liberty to downtown Fayetteville. Lately, there has been a lot of discussion among city leaders and residents about the future of Murchison and the relocation of E.E. Smith High School.
Many of the area’s residents want to retain the heritage and legacy of the corridor, while others look forward to expansion projects like the Murchison Choice Neighborhood Plan . Most recently, construction began on a new Chick-fil-A location in Bronco Midtown across from Fayetteville State University.