The
Fayetteville Observer is the oldest newspaper in
North Carolina. It was founded in 1816 as the
Carolina Observer. The
Fayetteville Observer was not published between 1865 and 1883, so the Wilmington
Star-News (founded in 1867) is North Carolina's oldest continually published newspaper. The name was changed to the
Fayetteville Observer in 1833. The
Observers offices were destroyed by
William T. Sherman's invading army in 1865. It was refounded as
The Fayetteville Observer in 1883. W. J. McMurray bought the paper in 1923, and his family-owned Fayetteville Publishing Company ran the paper for four generations. Edward Jones Hale was the editor of the newspaper from 1825 to 1865. The paper was a leading supporter of the
Whig party. The content of the paper during this time period included many historical articles about North Carolina and accounts of the
Civil War. The Hale family moved to New York after the newspaper buildings were destroyed in the Civil War. His son,
Edward Joseph Hale returned to North Carolina in 1883 to revive the newspaper and continued ownership of the newspaper until 1919 when it was sold to a group of local businessmen. In March 2022,
The Observer moved to a six day printing schedule, eliminating its printed Saturday edition. ==Awards==