March 22, 2011

Lafayette County is named in honor of the famous Frenchman Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette, who came to America to serve as an officer during the Revolutionary War. Attaining the rank of lieutenant general in the Continental Army, he participated in many of the important battles of the war. Returning to his native France after the war, he made a triumphant return to the established United States in 1824–25. Approximately two years later, the new Arkansas county was christened with his name.