What’s in a name? Lafayette County

By Cole Davis Riverbend News When one thinks of counties in North Florida that have to be pronounced correctly to be considered, a local one thinks of Lafayette County. In fact, the correct pronunciation of “Lafayette” is so important to those who live there that anyone who pronounces the name incorrectly is (rightly) considered uncouth! This begs the questions: Where does that name even come from? And why on earth is it French? The answer can be found in one of the great stories of American history: the one of the Marquis de Lafayette. While it might seem strange to us today that a county in North Florida might be named for a French nobleman, it shouldn’t. In the 1820s, when Flo