[4] For much of the county's history, agriculture, primarily cotton production, was the basis of the local economy, as it was throughout western Tennessee.

After Emancipation in 1865, many planters hired freedmen as tenant farmers and sharecroppers to produce the still-important cotton crops.

[6] On June 20, 1940, Elbert Williams, an African-American, was murdered in Brownsville for "attempting to qualify to vote" and "an interest in Negro affairs."

[8] Like other southern states, Tennessee had raised voter registration barriers at the turn of the century to disenfranchise blacks.

[9] Haywood County is situated on the southeastern edge of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, an area with a high earthquake risk.

[citation needed] As of the 2020 United States census, there were 17,864 people, 7,181 households, and 4,727 families residing in the county.

By 2017, grains, oilseeds, drybeans, drypeas and tobacco drew the most income, but Haywood County still grew the most cotton in the state.

[21] In 2009, under the leadership of Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and Haywood County Mayor Franklin Smith, a 3,836-acre (1,552 ha) tract in southwestern Haywood County near Stanton was designated for a state-supported industrial megasite, intended for a large-scale industrial or business development such as an automobile assembly plant.

In September 2009, Tennessee's State Building Commission authorized spending of $40 million for purchase of the land.

[22] On September 27, 2021, it was announced that Ford and SK Innovation would construct a complex at the megasite called "Blue Oval City" to manufacture electric vehicles and batteries.

[23][24] One of Haywood County's most notable residents was Sleepy John Estes, a blues guitarist songwriter and vocalist.

[26][27][28] Sleepy John is buried at Elam Baptist Church Cemetery in Durhamville, Lauderdale County.