[2] It is part of the Beckley, WV Metropolitan Statistical Area in Southern West Virginia.

It was named in honor of the Marquis de la Fayette, who had played a key role assisting the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

The earlier Fayette County, Virginia existed from 1780 to 1792, and was lost when Kentucky was admitted to the Union.

In 1871, an Act of the West Virginia Legislature severed a small portion to form part of Summers County.

[6] In 1863, West Virginia's counties were divided into civil townships, with the intention of encouraging local government.

[8] Fayette County was the location of a disastrous mine explosion at Red Ash in March 1900, in which 46 miners were killed.

[9] Fayette County elected several African Americans to the West Virginia House of Delegates during the early decades of the 20th century including the first, second and third who served in the state legislature.

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 46,039 people, 18,813 households, and 12,459 families living in the county.

[21] Unionization of its predominant coal mining workforce during the New Deal made the county powerfully Democratic between 1932 and 2008: no Republican in this period except Richard Nixon against George McGovern won forty percent of the county's vote, and Lyndon Johnson in 1964 exceeded eighty percent against the conservative Barry Goldwater.

The county has a tradition of coal mining, which still serves as a primary source of employment in the area.

The Mount Olive Correctional Complex, West Virginia's only maximum security state prison, is also located in Fayette County.

[citation needed] The economy has shifted significantly in recent years, with a large amount of money being spent in outdoor recreation and tourism.