Fayette County was formed in 1821 from parts of the Creek Indian Territory. Georgia's 49th county and its county seat, Fayetteville, were named for the Marquis de LaFayette, one of General George Washington's commanders in the Revolutionary War.
The largest city in the county, Peachtree City, is a totally planned municipality, which features over 50 miles of pedestrian and golf cart pathways connecting all parts of the city.
The "world's largest courthouse bench" is located alongside the entrance walkway to the county's courthouse. Dr. Ferrol Sams, author of Run with the Horseman and other novels about the rural South, hails from Fayette County.
The Fayette County Courthouse in Fayetteville was built in 1825, making it the oldest courthouse in the state. Every Halloween children in the county fill the courthouse square with elaborately decorated jack-o-lanterns.
Housed in the former Margaret Mitchell Library in Fayetteville, the Fayette County Historical Society features historical collections concerning the civil war and local genealogical records.
Fayette County: Demographic Information
According
to the 1990 Census, the population of Fayette County was 62,415
persons. The county's population grew between 1980 and 1990 at a rate
of 114.9%, compared with a state average growth rate during the period
of 13.2%. The county's projected population for the year 2000 is
102,356 persons.
In
Fayette County, 92.5% of the residents were white and 5.4% were black,
according to the 1990 Census. Hispanics, who may also be identified as
either white or black in the Census data, constituted 1.6% of the
county’s population. Statewide, 71% of residents were white, 27% were
black and 1.7% were Hispanic.
In
addition, 32% of the county’s residents were age 19 or younger, while
7.2% were age 65 or older. Statewide, 30% were age 19 or younger and
10% were age 65 or older.
In
Fayette County, the 1990 Census reports 4% of households were headed by
females and had children under 18 years of age, compared with 8%
statewide. Total households with children under 18 comprised 46.9% of
all households in the county and 36% of those in the state.
The
1990 Census indicates that 30.1% of the adult population in Fayette
County had completed high school, which was greater than the state
average of 29.6%. A total of 56.4% of the county’s population had at
least some college level education compared with the 41.3% state
average.
Between
1991 and 1995, an average of 4.5% of students in grades 8 to 12 dropped
out of school each year in the county. Statewide, the average
percentage of dropouts was 6.7% for the same time period.
Fayette
County spent an average of $3,831 per pupil for public education each
year between 1990 and 1994. This expenditure was less than the
statewide average of $4,002.
Between
1989 and 1993, the infant mortality rate (infant deaths per 1,000 live
births) was 7.2 for the county. The statewide rate was 11.3 during the
same period.
In
1992, the number of physicians in the county per 1,000 population was
0.57, compared with the 0.8 state average. Fayette County had 0
hospital beds per 1,000 population in 1994, which was less than the
statewide average of 3.6 beds per 1,000 population.
According
to the 1990 Census, 80.8% of the housing units in the county were owner
occupied. The median value of these units was $116,700. Across the
state, 76% of housing units were owner occupied, with a median value of
$70,700.
Between
1990 and 1994, the county’s index crime rate (crimes per 100,000
population) was 2,026. Statewide, when moving from the highest index
crime rate to the lowest, Fayette County ranked number 104. Of this
five year average, 9.3% were violent crimes, while 90.7% were
non-violent crimes.
In
1992, 87.1% of the adult population in the county was registered to
vote. Of those registered, 82.4% voted in the 1992 general election.
Statewide, in 1992, 67% of eligible Georgians were registered to vote.
Of those registered, 73% voted in the general election that year.
Fayette County: Economic Information
According
to the Georgia Department of Labor, the largest non-government
employers in the county include: Kroger Company, Matsushita
Communication, and NCR Corporation.
Between
1990 and 1994, Fayette County’s annual unemployment rate was lower than
the state’s mark, averaging 3% compared with the state’s average of
5.7%. Nationwide, unemployment for the same period averaged 6.5%.
In
1990, 33% of the county’s workforce was employed within the county
while the balance, 67%, commuted out of Fayette County for employment.
The
county per capita income in 1992 was greater than that of the state and
was greater than that of the nation. Fayette County’s per capita income
was $22,534, as compared with $18,549 for the state and $20,105 for the
United States.
Fayette
County’s median household income in 1989 was $50,167. This amount was
greater than the state’s median household income of $29,021 in that
same year. Nationally, the median household income in 1989 was $30,056.
In
1993, taxable sales in the county amounted to $7,266 per capita. This
amount was less than the $10,636 per capita figure for the state as a
whole.
Fayette
County had 1,370 business establishments in 1991. In the six-year
period of 1986-1991, the number of business establishments in the
county increased by 45%. Statewide, the number of business
establishments increased by 6% during the same period.
According
to the Georgia Department of Revenue’s Net Property and Utility Digest,
Fayette County’s assessed property value amounted to $1,199,405,961 in
1992, resulting in a per capita assessed property value of $19,217. At
the state level, per capita assessed property value in 1992 equaled
$16,112.
The
newspaper with the largest daily circulation in Fayette County is the
Atlanta Journal/Constitution. The county is considered part of the
Atlanta television market.
During
1989, 3% of the county’s population lived below the poverty level,
compared with a statewide level of 15% and a U.S. rate of 13%. In
addition, 2% of the children under the age of 18 in the county lived in
poverty and 7% of the elderly, persons over age 65, lived below the
poverty level. Statewide, in 1989, 20% of all children and 20% of the
elderly lived in poverty. Nationally, 19% of all children and 11% of
the elderly were considered to be impoverished.
Residents
of Fayette County received total government transfer payments amounting
to $1,746 per capita in 1992, compared with $2,708 per capita statewide.
Fayette County: Government Information
From
1991 to 1995, Fayette County's average own source revenue per capita
was $298. This amount was less than the average of $325 per capita
reported by other counties of similar size and was less than the
overall county average of $326.
Fayette
County collected an average of $183 per capita in property tax during
the past five years. This amount was greater than the average of $162
per capita for other similarly sized counties. For the same period, the
average per capita amount of county property tax collected in Georgia
was $155. On average, property taxes accounted for 61% of the county's
own source revenue during the period of 1991 to 1995.
Between
1991 and 1995, Fayette County's yearly general operating expenditures
averaged $220 per capita. This amount was less than the overall county
average of $274 per capita during the same period. The average yearly
general operating expenditures per capita for similarly sized counties
was $254 between 1991 and 1995.
From
1991 to 1995, Fayette County had an average of $45,635,074 in long-term
debt outstanding each year, resulting in an average per capita debt
burden of $626. This amount was greater than the $84 per capita average
among the 135 counties with outstanding debt during the period and
greater than the $68 per capita average for the 20 similarly sized
counties with outstanding debt.
In
1996, Fayette was designated as a tier three county under Georgia's Job
Tax Credit Program. Under this classification, eligible companies may
receive $500 in tax credits for each new job created in the county.
According
to the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, Fayette County has
a 5-member board of commissioners, with the chairman elected by the
members of the board. The county seat of Fayette County is Fayetteville.