Fayette, MS

Fayette is the seat of Jefferson County in southwestern Mississippi, at the meeting of U.S. 61 and state highways that connect the county's farms and river communities. The 2020 census counted 1,445 residents. The courthouse and county offices sit alongside the Jefferson County School District, which includes elementary, middle, high, and career-and-technical campuses in town. City crews handle water, sewer, streets, drainage, solid waste, and green spaces; Natchez and Vicksburg are the larger regional destinations for work and services.

Fayette was founded in 1825 and has carried the weight of being the county seat ever since. Its past includes the 1879 robbery associated with the Jesse James gang, but the more important local story is civic: Charles Evers won the mayor's office in 1969, becoming the first African American mayor elected in Mississippi after Reconstruction. Today the courthouse, schools, churches, small businesses, and surrounding agricultural land make Fayette a practical Delta-edge town, with county government giving the small city a reach beyond its population.