Editing Fair Bluff, North Carolina (section)

==History==
Fair Bluff was the name originally given to a bluff overlooking the [[Lumber River]]. In 1807 plans were made to build a town upon the lands of John Wooton at the bluff to be known as Wootonton. The town was established but the name was never changed. The community was reincorporated in 1873.{{sfn|Powell|1976|p=166}}

The [[Powell House (Fair Bluff, North Carolina)|Powell House]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1978.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>

Agriculture has always been a mainstay of the economy in the town. Tobacco was a major commodity grown in the area. By the eighties, tobacco growing subsided. This caused a shift for the town and its citizens.<ref>"Unemployment continued to rise in 1982 as the recession deepened" (PDF). Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor. Retrieved October 15, 2018.</ref> The downtown continued to thrive until the late 1980s when a car dealership moved from the business district to another location.  Haphazard town planning saw a mixture of residential, business, and industry all over town.  Tens of millions in US government grants poured into the city beginning in the mid-1980s until present day.  But the town continued to decline and people left for better opportunities elsewhere. The decline in Fair Bluff was similar to neighboring towns of [[Tabor City, North Carolina|Tabor City]], [[Boardman, North Carolina|Boardman]], [[Brunswick, North Carolina|Brunswick]], [[Cerro Gordo, North Carolina|Cerro Gordo]], and [[Chadbourn, North Carolina|Chadbourn]].{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} A town manager was hired to handle administrative duties of the town,<ref name="McAdams">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wect.com/story/17402115/columbus-county-man-on-5-town-payrolls|title=Columbus Co. man works on 5 town payrolls|first=Ann|last=McAdams|website=wect.com}}</ref><ref name="wwaytv3.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wwaytv3.com/fair-bluff-town-manager-doesnt-like-to-see-himself-tv-wont-address-employee-who-wrecked-c/|title=Fair Bluff Town Manager doesn't like to see himself on TV; Won't address employee who wrecked car|date=February 7, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Al_Leonard,_Jr.|title=Al Leonard, Jr.|website=Ballotpedia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.circleofblue.org/2019/world/the-rural-dilemma-qa-with-al-leonard-fair-bluff-town-manager/|title=The Rural Dilemma: Q&A With Al Leonard, Fair Bluff Town Manager|first=Brett|last=Walton|date=June 5, 2019}}</ref>

In 1999, Fair Bluff experienced a devastating flood event.

[[File:Fair Bluff, North Carolina.jpg|thumb|left|Downtown Fair Bluff, largely deserted in 2020]]
In 2012, the Police Chief of Fair Bluff Marty Lewis was arrested, tried and convicted for selling and delivering oxycodone and possession with the intent to sell and conspiracy to traffic while acting as police chief. He was sentenced to a minimum of seven years in prison and fined $100,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wect.com/story/26654955/verdict-jury-reaches-verdict-in-marty-lewis-trial|title=VERDICT: Jury reaches verdict in Marty Lewis trial|website=wect.com}}</ref> On April 9, 2015, Marty Lewis filled an appeal of his case.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wwaytv3.com/2015/05/18/fmr-fair-bluff-police-chief-appealing-drug-convictions/|title=Former Fair Bluff police chief appealing drug convictions|last=Bynum|first=Elizabeth|website=[[WWAY]]|date=May 18, 2015|language=en-US|access-date=October 9, 2019}}</ref> On November 3, 2015, the verdict was unanimously affirmed by the [[North Carolina Court of Appeals]], leaving in place the 90 to 117-month prison sentence originally imposed. Lewis will not be eligible for parole before November 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wect.com/story/30420512/nc-court-of-appeals-affirms-guilty-verdict-in-former-police-chiefs-trafficking-case/|title=NC Court of Appeals affirms guilty verdict in former police chief's trafficking case|website=[[WECT]]|language=en-US|access-date=October 9, 2019}}</ref>

In 2016, the town was devastated by flooding on the [[Lumber River]] caused by Hurricane Matthew, prompting the evacuation of hundreds of residents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nrcolumbus.com/news/flooding-continues-across-area-fair-bluff-hardest-hit/|title = Flooding continues across area; Fair Bluff hardest hit; Waccamaw 'stable'|date = October 12, 2016}}</ref> Floodwaters reached the town hall, police department, fire department, a grocery store, and a school.<ref name= flavelle>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/02/climate/climate-towns-bankruptcy.html|title=Climate Change Is Bankrupting America's Small Towns|first1=Christopher|last1=Flavelle|first2=Mike|last2=Belleme|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 2, 2021}}</ref> As of June 2018, the rebuilding effort was still underway but several hundred residents who had fled rising floodwaters never returned and a number of businesses remained shuttered.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.fayobserver.com/news/20180602/20-months-after-matthew-fair-bluff-like-ghost-town|title=20 months after Matthew, Fair Bluff 'like a ghost town'|last=Futch|first=Michael|work=The Fayetteville Observer|access-date=September 24, 2018|language=en}}</ref>

In September 2018 Fair Bluff was flooded again by the impact of Hurricane Florence, again forcing evacuations and leaving the downtown area under water again,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.wect.com/story/39150369/fair-bluff-hit-hard-by-second-hurricane-in-two-years|title=Fair Bluff hit hard by second hurricane in two years|access-date=September 24, 2018|language=en}}</ref> and destroying 72 homes.<ref>{{cite news| last = Martin| first = Edward| title = Columbus County claws its way back from Florence's strike| newspaper = Business North Carolina| date = October 1, 2019| url = https://businessnc.com/columbus-county-claws-its-way-back-from-florences-strike/| access-date = January 16, 2023}}</ref> After Florence, many buildings in the downtown area of the town lay abandoned, with no plans to reoccupy or fix them.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wect.com/2019/07/19/storms-years-look-floyd-matthew-florences-impact-fair-bluff/|title=3 Storms in 20 years: a look at Floyd, Matthew and Florence's impact on Fair Bluff|last=Ross|first=Gabe|website=[[WECT]]|language=en-US|access-date=July 30, 2019}}</ref> The town's only factory closed several months later, and hundreds of residents moved away. The federal government bought out some residents' properties, straining the municipal government's tax base.<ref name= flavelle/> The town government drew up plans to level the historic business district and turn it into a park, and build a new business district further away from the river.<ref>{{cite news| last = Schofield| first = Ivey| title = Bringing southeastern North Carolina back to life, one downtown at a time| newspaper = Border Belt Independent| date = July 27, 2022| url = https://borderbelt.org/downtown-revitalization-southeastern-nc/| access-date = November 5, 2022}}</ref>