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Kentucky Counties

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Kentucky Counties

Despite ranking 37th in size by area, Kentucky has 120 counties, third in the U.S. behind Texas's 254 and Georgia's 159.

Fayette County, Kentucky

Fayette County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Lexington
Year Organized: 1780
Square Miles: 284

Court House:

200 East Main Street
County Courthouse
Lexington, KY 40507-1310

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Marquis de LaFayette (1757-1834), French military officer and hero of the Revolutionary War.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Fayette county was formed in 1780. It is located in the Inner Bluegrass region of the state. The elevation in the county ranges from 549 to 1070 feet above sea level. In 2000 the county population was 260,512 in a land area of 284.52 square miles, an average of 915.6 people per square mile. The county seat is Lexington. Fayette was one of the original counties in the Kentucky territory of Virginia.

One of three original counties formed when Kentucky County, Virginia was divided by the Virginia Act in 1780 (the other two counties being Jefferson and Lincoln). Fayette County included area north and east of the Kentucky River, 37 present-day counties, and parts of 7 others. It was reduced to its present boundaries in 1799. The county is named for Marquis de Lafayette, who came to America to assist with the American Revolutionary War.

On January 1, 1974, Fayette County merged its government with that of its county seat of Lexington, creating a consolidated city-county governed by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Perry County
Northeast: Letcher County; Wise County, Va.
Southeast: Lee County, Va.
Southwest: Bell County
Northwest: Leslie County

Cities and Towns:

- Lexington-Fayette (County Seat)

city/county

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

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