Famous People From Fayetteville, NC: J. Cole to Hiram Revels

Fayetteville's list of notable people runs from a 19th-century U.S. senator to a Tony winner, and the Fort Bragg connection means some of the best-known names were born on post or raised by military families. This guide sticks to people with a documented tie to the city: born here, raised here, or educated in local schools. Each entry says which it is.

At a glance

Person	Known for	Fayetteville connection
J. Cole	Rapper, producer, Dreamville founder	Raised in Fayetteville
Julianne Moore	Academy Award-winning actor	Born at Fort Bragg, 1960
Brian Tyree Henry	Oscar-nominated actor	Born in Fayetteville; E. E. Smith High School
J. Harrison Ghee	Tony-winning Broadway performer	E. E. Smith High School, class of 2007
Dennis Smith Jr.	NBA guard	Born in Fayetteville; Trinity Christian School
Hiram Rhodes Revels	First Black U.S. senator	Born in Fayetteville around 1827
Charles W. Chesnutt	Novelist and educator	Raised in Fayetteville; led the normal school that became FSU
George Floyd	His 2020 murder led to worldwide protests	Born in Fayetteville

Music and entertainment

J. Cole

Jermaine Cole was born on a U.S. Army base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville. Before the family moved into a two-story house on Forest Hills Drive, they lived in military housing and then a trailer park in Spring Lake. He left for New York in 2003 on a scholarship to St. John's University.

His third album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, came out on December 9, 2014, and is named for that childhood home; the cover shows him on its roof. He later bought the house back through his Dreamville Foundation and said he wanted to turn it into a rent-free home for single mothers. When people ask "what rapper is from Fayetteville," he is the answer, and his lyrics often call the city "the Ville."

Julianne Moore

Julianne Moore was born Julie Anne Smith on December 3, 1960, at Fort Bragg, where her father was serving in the Army. Like many military children, she moved often and did not grow up in Fayetteville, but her birthplace is why she appears on almost every list of famous people from the area. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Still Alice.

Brian Tyree Henry

Brian Tyree Henry was born in Fayetteville on March 31, 1982, and graduated from E. E. Smith High School in 2000. He is known for the series Atlanta and received an Academy Award nomination for the film Causeway.

J. Harrison Ghee

J. Harrison Ghee graduated from E. E. Smith High School in 2007. In 2023 Ghee won the Tony Award for best lead actor in a musical for Some Like It Hot, becoming one of the first nonbinary performers to win in a lead acting category, and the show's cast album won the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. The City of Fayetteville later presented Ghee with a key to the city.

Sports

Dennis Smith Jr.

Dennis Smith Jr. was born in Fayetteville on November 25, 1997, and played at Trinity Christian School, where he helped win the 2014 NCISAA 1-A state title. He enrolled at NC State in January 2016 and went on to an NBA career.

Babe Ruth (a visitor, not a native)

Babe Ruth was not from Fayetteville, but the city has a claim on him. A state historical marker on Gillespie Street records that he hit his first professional home run here in March 1914 during a Baltimore Orioles exhibition game, and that he picked up the nickname "Babe" in this town.

History and public life

Hiram Rhodes Revels

NCpedia says Hiram Rhodes Revels was born in Fayetteville around 1827, though the exact birthplace has not been identified. After moving to Mississippi, he became the first African American member of the U.S. Senate, taking his seat on February 25, 1870, and serving until March 4, 1871. He then became president of Alcorn College, the state's first college for Black students.

Charles W. Chesnutt

Charles W. Chesnutt was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1858 to free Black parents from Fayetteville, and he grew up in the city. In the early 1880s he was principal of the State Colored Normal School in Fayetteville, the school that became Fayetteville State University. He went on to national success as a novelist and short story writer. He was also organist at Evans Metropolitan AME Zion Church.

George Floyd

George Floyd was born in Fayetteville in 1973 and grew up in Houston. After his murder by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020, a public memorial was held on June 6, 2020, in nearby Raeford, close to his birthplace, and thousands of people attended. Protests that week also reached downtown Fayetteville's Market House.

Where to see these connections in person

• E. E. Smith High School produced both Brian Tyree Henry and J. Harrison Ghee. Our Cumberland County high schools guide covers the county's public high schools.
• Fayetteville State University traces its roots to the Howard School of 1867. See the Fayetteville State guide.
• Evans Metropolitan AME Zion Church and the Babe Ruth marker are both on our Fayetteville heritage sites tour.
• Forest Hills Drive is a private residential street. If you drive by J. Cole's childhood home, stay on the street and respect the neighbors.

For the bigger picture of how Fayetteville and Fort Bragg grew, read the Fayetteville history timeline. If you are planning a trip around these stops, the visitor guide covers the basics.

Sources

• NCpedia: Hiram Rhodes Revels
• NCpedia: Fayetteville State University
• Britannica: Julianne Moore
• NPR: J. Cole on 2014 Forest Hills Drive
• WRAL: Oscar buzz after former Fayetteville student nominated for Causeway
• PBS NewsHour: Mourners hold memorial for Floyd in North Carolina
• NCDNCR: Babe Ruth marker (I-33)

Details checked October 2026.