Fayette County, Tennessee

Fayette County, Tennessee
Somerville City Hall, seat of Fayette County
Location in the state of Tennessee
Tennessee's location in the U.S.
Founded	September 29, 1824
Named for	Marquis de Lafayette
Seat	Somerville
Largest city	Oakland
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	706 sq mi (1,829 km²) 704 sq mi (1,825 km²) 2 sq mi (4 km²), .24%
PopulationEst.  - (2011)  - Density	38,513 41/sq mi (16/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.fayettetn.us

Fayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 38,413. It was named after the Marquis de la Fayette, French hero of the American Revolution. Its county seat is Somerville.

Fayette County is part of the Memphis, TN–MS–AR Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is considered part of the Mississippi Delta and was a major area of cotton plantations dependent on slave labor in the nineteenth century.

Rhea "Skip" Taylor is currently the county mayor.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 706 square miles (1,828.5 km²), of which 704 square miles (1,823.4 km²) is land and 2 square miles (5.2 km²) (0.24%) is water.

Adjacent counties

• Haywood County (north)
• Hardeman County (east)
• Benton County, Mississippi (southeast)
• Marshall County, Mississippi (south)
• Shelby County (west)
• Tipton County (northwest)

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1830	8,652		—
1840	21,501		148.5%
1850	26,719		24.3%
1860	24,327		−9.0%
1870	26,145		7.5%
1880	31,871		21.9%
1890	28,878		−9.4%
1900	29,701		2.8%
1910	30,257		1.9%
1920	31,499		4.1%
1930	28,891		−8.3%
1940	30,322		5.0%
1950	27,535		−9.2%
1960	24,577		−10.7%
1970	22,692		−7.7%
1980	25,305		11.5%
1990	25,559		1.0%
2000	28,806		12.7%
2010	38,413		33.4%
Est. 2011	38,513		0.3%
U.S. Decennial Census 2011 estimate

Age pyramid Fayette County

As of the census of 2000, there were 28,806 people, 10,467 households, and 8,017 families residing in the county. The population density was 41 people per square mile (16/km²). There were 11,214 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 62.48% White, 35.95% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.39% from other races, and 0.76% from two or more races. 1.03% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

According to the census of 2000, the largest ancestry groups in Fayette County were English 51.66%, African 35.95%, Scots-Irish 7.1%, and Scottish 1.2%.

By 2005 Fayette County was 67.9% non-Hispanic whites. Its population was 28.2% African-American, 1.9% Latino and 1.2% Asian.

In 2000 there were 10,467 households out of which 31.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.50% were married couples living together, 14.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.40% were non-families. 20.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the county, the population was spread out with 25.70% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 27.40% from 25 to 44, 25.60% from 45 to 64, and 13.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $40,279, and the median income for a family was $46,283. Males had a median income of $33,603 versus $24,690 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,969. About 10.90% of families and 14.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.40% of those under age 18 and 18.00% of those age 65 or over.

Since the four-lane expansion of Highway 64 in the early 1990s, western Fayette County has had a population explosion. Although the county seat is still in Somerville, the population of Oakland has far surpassed it because of the influx of people working in Shelby County and seeking more affordable housing.

Although Fayette County is growing on its western side, the county's economy is still based on agriculture. Historically it was a site of cotton plantations as part of the Mississippi Delta. Several of the county's largest farmers, including the Rhea, Walker, German, Armour, and Karcher families, control the vast majority of the county's wealth. Some of these families have been farming for generations dating back to plantations before the Civil War. Others are younger farmers who have used their skill, business savvy, and work ethic to develop large farming operations.

Fayette County has become a destination for upscale residential housing outside of Memphis and Shelby County, TN, for high income families of the metro area. The total value for building permits in June 2007 was close to that of the much larger Memphis suburban area of DeSoto County, Mississippi.

Schools

• Fayette Ware Comprehensive High
• Fayette Academy
• Rossville Christian Academy
• West Jr High
• East Jr High
• Southwest Elementary
• Oakland Elementary
• LaGrange-Moscow Elementary
• Northwest Elementary
• Central Elementary
• Somerville Elementary
• Jefferson Elementary

Populated places

• Braden
• Gallaway
• Grand Junction
• Hickory Withe (unincorporated)
• La Grange
• Macon (unincorporated)
• Moscow
• Oakland
• Piperton
• Rossville
• Somerville
• Williston

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Fayette County, Tennessee
• Herb Parsons Lake
• Wolf River (Tennessee)
• Wolf River Conservancy

External links

• Fayette County at the Open Directory Project
• Fayette County entry, Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
• Fayette County, TNGenWeb - free genealogy resources for the county
• Jimmy Hart, "October 1960: The Untold Story of the Civil Rights Struggle in Fayette County, Tennessee", multi-part series in The Jackson Sun