Fayette County ( ) is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the north central portion of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 119,194, an increase from 106,567 in 2010.US 2020 Census Bureau report, Fayette County, Georgia Fayette County was established in 1821. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, Fayetteville, was established in 1823. Much of Fayette County is bordered on the east side by the Flint River. Fayette County was organized in 1821 after the United States signed a treaty at Indian Springs, Georgia with the

Creek people The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsMarquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

, who aided General

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

in the American Revolutionary War. Since the late 20th century, Fayette County has been part of the Greater Atlanta Metropolitan Area. It is located south of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, which is based in Fulton County. Fayette County is minutes from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. As a suburb of Atlanta, Fayette County has increased rapidly in population and development since the late 20th century, nearly doubling its population since 1990.

History

Fayette County was created on May 15, 1821, from territory ceded to the United States by the

, French hero of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. In the years following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the county developed suburban residential communities, with many workers commuting to Atlanta. Peachtree City was chartered in 1959. It was developed as the only planned community in the county and in the Southeast; it covers 16,000 acres.Carolyn Cary, "Fayette County"
''New Georgia Encyclopedia'', 2006/2015 The county population has increased rapidly during the late twentieth century with the growth of Atlanta. It has also benefited from a reverse migration of African Americans to the South, as new residents are attracted to jobs and opportunities. Significant growth and development continues. In 2002, Charles "Chuck" Floyd was appointed to the position of Chief Magistrate Judge of the county. In 2004 and 2008, he was elected to the position in his own right, thereby becoming the first African American ever elected to any office in the county.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.5%) is water. The Flint River passes through the county and provided the earliest route for transportation and shipping of commodity crops. The entirety of Fayette County is located in the Upper Flint River sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin).

Major highways

State Route 54 * Georgia 74

State Route 74 * Georgia 85

State Route 85 * Georgia 92

State Route 92 * Georgia 138

State Route 138 * Georgia 279

State Route 279 * Georgia 314

State Route 314

Adjacent counties

* Fulton County – north * Clayton County – east * Spalding County – south *

Coweta County Coweta County is a county in the West Central region of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of Metro Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, the population was 146,158. The county seat is Newnan. Coweta County is included in the Atlanta-Sandy S ...

– west

Communities

In 2015, the majority-white city of Fayetteville elected its first African-American mayor, Ed Johnson. Described as a "bridge-builder," Johnson is a retired naval commander and pastor of a black church; he was elected in 2011 as the first black member of the city council.

Cities

* Fayetteville (county seat) * Peachtree City (largest city)

Towns

* Brooks * Tyrone * Woolsey

Unincorporated communities

* Inman * Starr's Mill

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 119,194 people, 41,253 households, and 33,101 families residing in the county. In 2010, the median income for a household in the county was $82,216 and the median income for a family was $92,976. Males had a median income of $68,381 versus $46,140 for females. The per capita income for the county was $35,076. About 3.4% of families and 4.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 6.1% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over. In 2000, the median income for a household in the county was $71,227, and the median income for a family was $78,853 (these figures had risen to $79,498 and $89,873 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $54,738 versus $33,333 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $29,464. About 2.00% of families and 2.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.80% of those under age 18 and 4.60% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Fayette County's local government is led by a board of five county commissioners, known as the governing authority of Fayette County. Since March 2016, four seats are to be filled by election from

single-member district A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. In some countries, such as Australia and India ...

s and one

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

from the county.

Voting rights suit and settlement

Until 2013, the county was divided into three "county commission districts." Three of the members of the board of commissioners were required to live inside one of the designated districts. The remaining two commissioners could live anywhere in the county. All members of the county commission were elected "at-large," which meant that each candidate had to attract the majority of votes across the county in order to win.ABS Staff, "Fayette County at-large election process violates the Voting Rights Act"
''Atlanta Black Star,'' May 22, 2013; accessed April 11, 2015 Since 1982, more than 100 cases of such at-large voting systems in Georgia have been replaced by single-member districts. The five members of the school board were also elected at-large. In the early 21st century, Fayette County was one of only 20 school boards among 180 in the state of Georgia to maintain at-large voting to elect members of these boards. The practical effect was the exclusion of African Americans from these positions. The county has been majority-white and majority-Republican since the late 20th century. Neither Republican nor Democratic African-American candidates had any electoral success. In 2011 the NAACP and several African-American county residents filed suit against the county and the board for the at-large voting system. In May 2013, the federal district court ordered the county and school board to change their systems of

voting, finding that it violated the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights move ...

by diluting the voting power of the minority.Tammy Joyner, "Fayette County Voting Rights Timeline"
''Atlanta Journal-Constitution,'' January 13, 2016; accessed December 13, 2016 African Americans make up 20% of the county population but were unable to elect candidates of their choice, as every commission and school board seat required a majority of county voters. The county has a majority-white, majority-Republican population. Under the federal ruling, five districts were established so that members of both the school board and county commission are elected from

s. This broadened representation on the boards. Voters of each district elect a commissioner living within its boundaries. In 2014, Democrat Pota E. Coston was elected as the first black county commissioner in the 194-year history of the county. Leonard Presberg was first appointed and then elected in his own right as the first Jewish member of the school board."Fayette chooses ‘discriminatory’ at-large voting to replace Coston, Democrats charge"
, ''The Citizen,'' July 13, 2015; accessed December 13, 2016 The county and school board both appealed the federal district court ruling. In January 2015, the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta remanded the case to the district court for a bench trial by the federal district judge, ruling that Judge Timothy Batten Sr. had made a technical error in granting summary judgment in the case. It did not overturn his ruling to establish the single-member district system. The bench trial by Judge Batten would give the county an opportunity to present additional evidence to support its case.Cal Beverly, "Fayette County wins district voting appeal"
''The Citizen,'' January 7, 2015; accessed December 13, 2016 After Coston died in office, the Fayette Board of Elections voted to use at-large voting in a special election to replace her. The NAACP returned to court as it opposed using the former system. Judge Batten ruled that the county had to use the single-member district system established by his earlier ruling. In September 2015 Democrat Charles Rousseau was elected from District 5 to succeed Coston, becoming the second African American elected to the county commission. In October 2015 the Fayette Chamber of Commerce and two prominent white leaders urged the county to settle the nearly five-year lawsuit and accept district voting. Judge Batten ordered the two sides into mediation and postponed the bench trial. In January 2016 the Fayette County School Board voted unanimously to settle the lawsuit and accept district voting for election of its members. The County Commission voted to settle by a 3–2 vote. Together with the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

and black county plaintiffs, the county commission agreed in January 2016 to a system of electing four members from single-member districts and the fifth as an at-large member. A law implementing this change was signed by Governor

Nathan Deal John Nathan Deal (born August 25, 1942) is an American politician and former lawyer who served as the 82nd governor of Georgia from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, he previously served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Deal served ...

in March 2016.Tammy Joyner, "New law creates Fayette’s new voting system"
''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,'' March 4, 2016; accessed December 13, 2016

Representation

Fayette County has five incorporated municipalities within its borders; Fayetteville, Brooks, Woolsey, Tyrone and Peachtree City. Formerly, Inman was also a municipality, but gave up its charter years ago. In 2015, Fayetteville, a majority-white city, elected its first African-American mayor, Ed Johnson. In 2011, he had been the first African American elected to its city council and only the second African American elected to any office in the history of Fayette County.Tammy Joyner, "Fayetteville’s first black mayor is ‘bridge builder’"
''Atlanta Journal-Constitution,'' November 7, 2015; accessed December 13, 2016
''Al-Jazeera'' (US), February 16, 2016; accessed December 12, 2016 Fayette is represented in the U.S. House by the 3rd and 13th congressional districts, and in the General Assembly by the 16th and 34th state senate and 63rd, 64th, 71st, 72nd and 73rd state house districts.

Politics

Fayette County has been a Republican stronghold since

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

. In 1980 and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, it was the most Republican county in the entire state. However, as the county's population has grown, the proportion of Republican voters has decreased significantly in recent elections. Republican presidential candidates' margins of victory have decreased from 31.2 percentage points for

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, to 19.1 points for

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, to 6.8 points for Trump in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, to 3.1 points for Trump in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. In the runoff for the 2022 United States Senate election in Georgia,

Raphael Warnock Raphael Gamaliel Warnock ( ; born July 23, 1969) is an American politician and Baptists, Baptist pastor serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, ...

narrowly lost the county in his re-election bid by a margin of 491 votes or 1%. Fayette County is one of nine counties that shifted more than 25 percentage points to the left from 2012 to 2024.

Education

Fayette County is served by the Fayette County School System. The governing authority for the school system is known as the Fayette County Board of Education, a board of five elected persons. They hire a superintendent to manage daily operations of the schools. Since a federal court ruling in 2013, resulting from the federal voting rights lawsuit described above, the five board members are each elected from single-member districts. In January 2016 after mediation, the school board voted unanimously to settle the lawsuit they had earlier appealed along with the county. The board accepted

s for election of board members.

High schools

* Fayette County High School * McIntosh High School * Sandy Creek High School * Starr's Mill High School * Whitewater High School

Alternative schools

* Fayette County Alternative Education Program

Notable people

* Paris Bennett, singer *

Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit ( ; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career, but is notorious for Chris Benoit double-murd ...

, WWE wrestler * Furman Bisher, longtime late sports columnist, ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' * Robert H. Brooks, former chairman and CEO, Hooter's of America Inc. *

Zac Brown Zachry Alexander Brown (born July 31, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the co-founder and lead singer of the country Zac Brown Band, as well as electronic dance music group Sir Rosevelt. In 2019, Brown ...

, Grammy award-winning singer, Zac Brown Band * Robert J Burch, children's author * Kandi Burruss, singer, reality TV star * Kathy Cox, State School Superintendent *

Creflo Dollar Creflo Augustus Dollar Jr. (born January 28, 1962) is an American pastor, televangelist, and the founder of the non-denominational Christian World Changers Church International based in College Park, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. Dollar also hea ...

televangelist Televangelism (from ''televangelist'', a blend of ''television'' and ''evangelist'') and occasionally termed radio evangelism or teleministry, denotes the utilization of media platforms, notably radio and television, for the marketing of relig ...

* Mike Duke, former CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. *

Lee Haney Lee Haney (born November 11, 1959) is an American former professional bodybuilder. Haney shares the all-time record for most Mr. Olympia titles at eight with Ronnie Coleman. The winner of the Mr. Olympia title for eight consecutive years, he is ...

, retired professional bodybuilder and

Mr. Olympia Mr. Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the professional men's bodybuilding contest in the open division at Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend—an international bodybuilding competition that is held annually and is sanct ...

titleholder *

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed championship (boxing), undisputed champion in the cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight division ...

, retired professional boxer *

Tim Hudson Timothy Adam Hudson (born July 14, 1975), nicknamed "Huddy", is an American former professional baseball pitcher of Major League Baseball (MLB). After spending his college years at Chattahoochee Valley Community College and Auburn University, H ...

, former starting pitcher with the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants * Calvin Johnson, former NFL receiver for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

, Sandy Creek HS and

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

alum * Emmanuel Lewis, actor, '' Webster'' * Carole Marsh, children's author and founder of Gallopade International * Kelley O'Hara, United States Women's Soccer Player, 2011 FIFA World Cup silver medalist, 2012 Olympic gold medalist, 2015 FIFA World Cup gold medalist *

Paul Orndorff Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr. (October 29, 1949 – July 12, 2021), nicknamed "Mr. Wonderful", was an American professional wrestler and football player, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Champions ...

, pro wrestler * Ferrol Sams, physician, humorist, storyteller, and best-selling novelist *

Reed Sorenson Bradley Reed Sorenson (born February 5, 1986) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and Spotter (auto racing), spotter. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 27 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation ...

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

driver * Christian Taylor, gold medal winner, 2012 Olympic Games (London) men's triple jump * Gy Waldron, creator and executive producer, ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' * John Waller, contemporary Christian singer * Gary Anthony Williams, television and film actor

References

External links

Fayette County Board of Commissioners

Fayette County Board of Education

Fayette County Development Authority
(updated demographic information)
Young Professionals of Fayette County

Fayette County
historical marker
''Georgia State Conference NAACP, et al. v. Fayette County Board of Commissioners, et al.''
(2016), NAACP Legal Defense Fund {{Coord, 33.41, -84.49, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-GA_source:UScensus1990 1821 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Populated places established in 1821 History of voting rights in the United States Georgia (U.S. state) counties Fayette