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Tennessee Counties
There are ninety-five counties in the State of Tennessee. The oldest county is Washington County, founded in 1777. The most recently formed county is Chester County (1879)Fayette County, Tennessee
Fayette County Education, Geography, and History
Fayette County is a county located in the state of Tennessee. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 38,413. Its county seat is
Somerville. The county was named after the Marquis de la Fayette, French hero of the American Revolution.
Fayette County is part of the Memphis, TN–MS–AR Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is considered part of the Mississippi Delta
Etymology - Origin of Fayette County Name
Named in honor of the Marquis de la Fayette (1757-1834), French nobleman, statesman and soldier who entered American service in the Revolutionary War and was commissioned major-general.
Demographics:
County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts
History of Fayette County
Created 1824 from Indian lands; named in honor of the Marquis de la Fayette (1757-1834), French nobleman, statesman and soldier who entered American service in the Revolutionary War and was commissioned major-general.
Fayette County was formed in 1824 from Indian lands
(Acts of Tennessee 1824, Chapter 36).
There was a fire at the Fayette County courthouse in 1925.
Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
The Tennessee General Assembly established Fayette County on September 29, 1824, and named it in honor of the
Marquis de Lafayette, French general and statesman. The county seat, Somerville, was named to honor Lieutenant
Robert Somerville, hero of the battle of Tohopeka in Alabama. The first court proceedings took place at the home of
Robert G. Thornton on the banks of the North Fork of the Wolf River on December 6, 1824.
Settlement began in the area as early as 1820, and by 1826 there were enough residents for the incorporation of the
two oldest towns, Somerville and LaGrange. In both towns restored antebellum homes symbolize the wealth and culture
of the plantation period. The entire town of LaGrange, named for Lafayette's ancestral home, is listed in the
National Register of Historic Places. Today there are nine incorporated towns in the county: Braden, Gallaway,
LaGrange, Moscow, Oakland, Piperton, Rossville, Somerville, and Williston.
Religious zeal soon prompted the organization of the county's churches. Somerville's First Presbyterian Church dates
to 1829. Immanuel Parish in LaGrange, established in 1832, is the oldest Episcopal church in West Tennessee.
Nineteenth-century camp meetings live on at Joyner's Campground, where annual services are held each July in the
open-air tabernacle built in 1893. Find more from the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture:
FAYETTE COUNTY
Geography: Land and Water
As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 706 square miles (1,830 km2), of which 705 square miles (1,830 km2) is land and 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2) (0.2%) is water. It is the third-largest county in Tennessee by area.
Neighboring Counties
Bordering counties are as follows:
- Haywood County (north)
- Hardeman County (east)
- Benton County, Mississippi (southeast)
- Marshall County, Mississippi (south)
- Shelby County (west)
- Tipton County (northwest)
Education
Fayette Ware Comprehensive High
Fayette Academy
Rossville Christian Academy
West Jr High
East Jr High
Buckley-Carpenter Elementary School
Southwest Elementary
Oakland Elementary
LaGrange-Moscow Elementary
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