File:Lafayette_County_Courthouse,_Lexington,_Missouri.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Lafayette County
Also known as Lafayette County, Missouri, Lafayette County, MO
county in Missouri, United States
Key facts
- Country
- United States
- State
- Missouri
- Founded
- November 16, 1820
- Named after
- Marquis de La Fayette
- Seat
- Lexington
- Largest city
- Odessa
- Total
- 639 sq mi (1,660 km )
- Land
- 628 sq mi (1,630 km )
- Water
- 11 sq mi (28 km ) 1.6%
- Estimate 2025
- 33,531
- Density
- 52.5/sq mi (20.3/km )
- Time zone
- UTC−6 ( Central )
- Summer dst
- UTC−5 ( CDT )
~10 min read
Article
Lafayette County is a county in the western portion of Missouri, part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,984. Its county seat is Lexington. The county was organized November 16, 1820, from Cooper County and originally named Lillard County for James Lillard of Tennessee, who served in the first state constitutional convention and first state legislature. It was renamed Lafayette County on February 16, 1825, in honor of Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de La Fayette, who was then visiting the United States.
History