It was named after the Marquis de Lafayette, a French military officer of the American Revolutionary War.

Before the colonization of the region by Spain, Lafayette and its vicinity were inhabited by the Saclan tribe of the indigenous Bay Miwok.

[8] The indigenous inhabitants' first contact with Europeans was in the late 18th century with the founding of Catholic missions in the region.

These initial contacts developed into conflict, with years of armed struggle, including a battle on what is currently Lafayette soil in 1797 between the Saclan and the Spanish, and eventually resulting in the subjugation of the native population.

The settlement continued to steadily grow due to its proximity to San Francisco; starting with Brown's group of 18 settlers, by the census in 1852, 76 people were listed as living in the area.

He built a hotel in 1853 near Plaza Park and in 1854 was named postmaster of the Acelanus post office, an alternate spelling of the original land grant, Acalanes.

In 1857 Benjamin Shreve, owner and manager of a roadside hotel-general store (which faced today's Lafayette Plaza), applied for a post office for the community, first requesting the name Centerville.

When informed that a post office with that name already existed in California, Shreve suggested La Fayette, after the French general who became a hero of the American Revolution (probably not because his wife was a native of Lafayette, Indiana).

Postal Service, dated March 2, 1857, the name “LaFayette” is unmistakably written as one word with a capital “F” in the middle.

Yet research[citation needed] by Ruth Dyer, Lafayette historian, shows that the name of the post office and of the new town itself soon began to be written as two words, “La Fayette.” By 1890 it had changed to one word, "Lafayette," and so appeared in an official communication from the U.S. "Post Office Department" in Feb. 1899.

Finally on March 31, 1932, the name of the post office was officially changed to Lafayette, which has remained unchanged to this day.

The city is part of the greater San Francisco Bay Area and has its own station on the BART public transit system.

Lafayette is situated between Walnut Creek, Moraga, and Orinda, and, together with the latter two towns, is considered locally as part of "Lamorinda".

Summers are warm, dry and very sunny (although mornings can be foggy); winters are cool and damp, with occasional freezes.

In November 2006, area residents began placing crosses on a hill overlooking the Lafayette BART station and Highway 24 "to represent and memorialize the American soldiers who have died in the ongoing Iraqi war.

"[26] As of January 2014, there are approximately 6,000 crosses in place, representing the US troops who have died in Iraq, and there is also a large sign displaying the total number of deaths.

The memorial has generated public attention, media coverage and counter-protests due to its visibility from the commuter thoroughfare below.

While some show support for the protest, other residents complain that it is disrespectful to the US military in Iraq and that it is an eyesore to the community.