Lafayette County, Florida
county in Florida, United States
Lafayette County is a county located in the north central portion of the state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,226, making it the second-least populous county in Florida. The county seat is Mayo. Lafayette County is a prohibition or partially dry county, allowing retail sales of beer.
History
Lafayette County was created on December 23, 1856, from part of Madison County on the same day as Taylor County was also split off from Madison County. At the time it comprised all the area of present-day Lafayette and Dixie counties. The county was named in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who rendered assistance to the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. The famed Suwannee River forms the entire eastern boundary. The county courts first met at the home of Ariel Jones near Fayetteville. The county seat was New Troy until the court house burned down on New Year's Eve, 1892.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Lafayette County, Florida” is county in Florida, United States. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Lafayette, County and Florida, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “county in Florida, United States” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q488810. VIAF identifies the subject as 157128660. The Library of Congress control number is n82088482. Authority coordinates are 29.990, -83.180. 5 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1856 and 1892.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Lafayette County, Florida”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Lafayette County, Florida primary sources, Lafayette County, Florida archive and Lafayette research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Lafayette County, Florida”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Lafayette County, Florida” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.