At the time it comprised all the area of present-day Lafayette and Dixie counties.

The county was named in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who rendered assistance to the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War.

[3] The famed Suwannee River forms the entire eastern boundary.

The county courts first met at the home of Ariel Jones near Fayetteville.

The county seat was New Troy until the court house burned down on New Year's Eve, 1892.

The Gainesville Sun states that houses were dismantled for their timber and bricks, hardwoods replaced the fields, steamboat traffic ended in 1899, and the ferry closed in 1917.

[4] The 2020 United States census counted 8,226 people, 2,727 households, and 1,891 families in Lafayette County, Florida.

25.4% of households consisted of individuals and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

[15] The 2016-2020 5-year American Community Survey estimates show that the median household income was $51,734 (with a margin of error of +/- $6,662).

A very rural and landlocked county, Lafayette historically supported the Democratic Party.