Fayette, MO

Fayette is Howard County's seat, a Missouri city of 2,803 residents in the 2020 census within the Columbia metropolitan area. The town was laid out in 1823 and named for the Marquis de Lafayette; its courthouse square still carries the county-seat role at the center of town. Two historic districts—the courthouse square and Central Methodist campus—make the street plan feel connected to both county government and higher education. Those two districts give Fayette clear places for county work, college routines, and town events throughout the year.

Central Methodist University is the big present-day differentiator. Its brick-and-stone residential campus sits in a National Historic District, bringing students, academic work, and university events into a town otherwise organized around the courthouse, Main Street, and nearby farmland. Fayette City Park adds the everyday municipal side, with playgrounds, a basketball court, skateboard park, and shelters. The local scoop is a small county seat where the courthouse and college are both central parts of the town.