Lafayette County (pop. 8,870) has the second-smallest population of any county in Florida. Its eastern border is the Suwannee River.
It is one of five Lafayette counties and one Lafayette Parish, all named for Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette, Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1854).
The county seat of Lafayette County is the town of Mayo (pop. 1,218), the third-smallest county seat in Florida.
The former courthouse in Mayo is now a bed and breakfast called Le Chateau de Lafayette.
Just north of Mayo, on State Road 51, is the 420-foot Hal W. Adams Bridge (1947), the first suspension bridge built in Florida.
Lafayette Blue Springs State Park, seven miles north of Mayo, has one of the state’s largest natural springs.
Troy Spring State Park, east of Mayo, has the remains of the Confederate steamship Madison at the bottom of the spring.
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