Fayette County Chamber of Commerce                                                          Phone:  901.465.8690        
PO Box 411                                                                                                                                                                      Fax:  901.465.6497
13145 N. Main St.

Somerville, Tennessee 38068                                                                                                   Email Us

 

       
 

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Fayette County   


 

The Tennessee General Assembly established Fayette County on September 29, 1824, and was formed from Shelby and Hardeman Counties. It was Marquis de la Fayette (1757-1834), French nobleman, statesman and soldier who entered American service in the Revolutionary War and was commissioned major-general. The county seat, Somerville, was named to honor Lieutenant Robert Somerville, hero of the battle of  Tohopeka in Alabama. The first court proceedings took place at the home of Robert G. Thornton on the banks of the North Fork of the Wolf River on December 6, 1824.

Settlement began in the area as early as 1820, and by 1826 there were enough residents for the incorporation of the two oldest towns, Somerville and LaGrange. In both towns restored antebellum homes symbolize the wealth and culture of the plantation period. The entire town of LaGrange, named for Lafayette's ancestral home, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Today there are nine incorporated towns in the county: Braden, Gallaway, LaGrange, Moscow, Oakland, Piperton, Rossville, Somerville, and Williston.

Newspapers were published in Somerville.  Scattered early issues are available from 1840, and a complete run began in 1957. There was a fire at the Fayette County courthouse in 1925.