Lafayette County, Wisconsin

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

County Seat: Darlington
Year Organized: 1846
Square Miles: 634

Court House:

626 Main Street, PO Box 40
County Courthouse
Darlington, WI 53530-1397

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named in honor of Marquis de Lafayette, of Revolutionary fame - Wis. Hist. Colls., i, p. 113.

[Source: Kellogg, Louise Phelps. "Derivation of County Names" in Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for 1909, pages 219-231.]

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Situated in the Southwestern part of Wisconsin, Lafayette County lies within the unglaciated area of the state in the driftless region bordering the State of Illinois. With an area of 643 square miles or 411,520 acres, it has a population of 16,263 according to the 2002 final estimate.

The first settlements perfected by permanent occupation in Lafayette County were made during the year 1824 and were due to the existence of the lead mines, which led to early development and stability of the County. Lafayette County was formed in 1847 when the Legislature divided Iowa County into two separate counties. The Southern portion became Lafayette County, named after Marquis de Lafayette, hero of the Revolutionary War. Today, Lafayette County is one of the leading agricultural counties in the state, with 1,400 farms averaging 285 acres in size. Agriculture is the leading enterprise of the County.

Description from John W. Hunt's 1853 Wisconsin Gazetteer: "LAFAYETTE, County, is bounded on the north by Iowa, on the east by Green, on the south by the State line, and west by Grant, and is 21 miles north and south, by 30 miles east and west. it was organized February 4, 1847. The county seat has been a vexed question since the organization, but it has finally become established at the village of Shullsburg, a few miles southwest of the geographical centre. This county is more celebrated for its mining operations than for its agricultural products, simply, however, because the former has been prosecuted to the neglect of the latter. The Peckatonnica and Fevre rivers are the principal streams. The population in 1847 was 9,335; 1850, 11,556. Dwellings, 2,079; farms, 399; manufactories, 21."

LAFAYETTE.--Population 16,060.
From: Handbook of Wisconsin by S. Silas, 1855
pg. 80-81

Lafayette is in the mineral region of Wisconsin and its products are those of the mines. A very large proportion of the lead sent from this State is raised in Lafayette. Though the lands are rich, yet attention has so far been attracted to its minerals, that its agricultural products have been but a small part of its riches. Under the past system of prospecting for lead and copper, the uncertainty attending this branch of industry has turned the attention of the miners to agriculture, and Lafayette will undoubtedly soon show a more rapid increase of wealth and of stable prosperity than has ever attended mineral research. The land is good and mostly occupied. It lies in the Mineral Point land district.

The Mineral Point and the Southern Wisconsin Rail Roads pass through this County.--Shullsburg is the County Seat.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 635 square miles (1,644 km²), of which, 634 square miles (1,641 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (3 km²) of it (0.16%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Grant County - west
Iowa County - north
Green County - east
Stephenson County, Illinois - southeast
Jo Daviess County, Illinois - south

Cities and Towns:

- Argyle	village	Incorporated Area
- Belmont	village	Incorporated Area
- Benton	village	Incorporated Area
- Blanchard	town
- Blanchardville	village	Incorporated Area
- Darlington (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Elk Grove	town
- Fayette	town
- Gratiot	village	Incorporated Area
- Lamont	town
- New Diggings	town
- Shullsburg	city	Incorporated Area
- South Wayne	village	Incorporated Area
- Wayne	town
- White Oak Springs	town
- Willow Springs	town
- Wiota	town

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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