October 15, 1827

Lafayette County was formed out of Hempstead County. Its original borders were the Ouachita River on the east, Louisiana to the south, Hempstead County to the north, and Texas to the west. It was named for the Marquis de Lafayette, a French ally of the United States in the Revolutionary War. Lafayette County has always been important to the history of Arkansas, but it was particularly so from its first four decades as a territory through the Civil War. This was partly because one of its residents, James Sevier Conway, was the state’s first governor.