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Fayette, Mississippi
Location of Fayette, Mississippi
Location of Fayette, Mississippi
Fayette, Mississippi is located in the United States
Fayette, Mississippi
Fayette, Mississippi
Location in the United States
Country United States
State Mississippi
County Jefferson
Government
 • Type Mayor-Alderman
Area
 • Total 1.18 sq mi (3.04 km2)
 • Land 1.18 sq mi (3.04 km2)
 • Water 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation
282 ft (86 m)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total 1,614
 • Estimate 
(2019)
1,436
 • Density 1,221.09/sq mi (471.61/km2)
Time zone UTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP codes
39069, 39081
Area code(s) 601
FIPS code 28-24500
GNIS feature ID 0669927
Website Town of Fayette

Fayette is a city in Jefferson County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,614 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Jefferson County.

Geography

Fayette is located at 31°42′40″N 91°3′44″W / 31.71111°N 91.06222°W / 31.71111; -91.06222 (31.711144, -91.062246).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.2 square miles (3.1 km2), all land.

History

In 1879, the Jesse James gang, based in Missouri, raided southwest Mississippi, robbing a store each in Washington and Fayette. The outlaws absconded with $2,000 cash in the second robbery and took shelter in abandoned cabins on the Kemp Plantation south of St. Joseph, Louisiana. A posse attacked and killed two of the outlaws but failed to capture the entire gang. Jesse James and most of his gang succeeded in returning to Missouri. He was killed three years in 1882 at his house in St. Joseph in northwestern Missouri.

In 1890 the white Democrat-controlled legislature passed a new constitution, which effective disenfranchised most blacks in the state, crippling their integration into society and the Republican Party of the time. After Congressional passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, blacks began to register and vote again. Charles Evers was elected as mayor in 1969 by the people of Fayette; he was the first African-American mayor elected in post-Reconstruction Mississippi. He beat the white incumbent R.G. Allen by 386-225. Evers was an activist and the brother of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, head of the Mississippi chapter of the NAACP when he was assassinated in 1963.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1850 210
1860 339 61.4%
1870 120 −64.6%
1880 369 207.5%
1900 604
1910 775 28.3%
1920 840 8.4%
1930 848 1.0%
1940 907 7.0%
1950 1,498 65.2%
1960 1,626 8.5%
1970 1,725 6.1%
1980 2,033 17.9%
1990 1,853 −8.9%
2000 2,242 21.0%
2010 1,614 −28.0%
2019 (est.) 1,436 −11.0%
U.S. Decennial Census

2020 census

Fayette Racial Composition
Race Num. Perc.
White 15 1.04%
Black or African American 1,379 95.43%
Native American 1 0.07%
Asian 5 0.35%
Pacific Islander 2 0.14%
Other/Mixed 16 1.11%
Hispanic or Latino 27 1.87%

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 1,445 people, 510 households, and 291 families residing in the city.

Education

The City of Fayette is served by the Jefferson County School District.

Notable people

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Fayette (Misisipi) para niños

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