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Tennessee County
Fayette County, Tennessee
Memphis's fastest-growing eastern suburb and Tennessee's civil rights history - from Fayette County's dramatic growth as a Memphis exurban community (affordable land prices and Memphis proximity have driven rapid residential development in Oakland, Piperton, and along the US-64 corridor) to Fayette County's extraordinary civil rights history (in 1959-60, when Black tenant farmers attempted to register to vote, white landowners evicted over 400 families - the evicted families lived in tent cities through the winter, creating one of the most dramatic civil rights confrontations in Tennessee history and drawing national attention) and the county's productive cotton and soybean farming heritage.
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Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: Fayette County Emergency Management Agency – Director Justin Lewis | PO Box 820, 16885 Hwy 64, Somerville, TN 38068 | (901) 465-5239 | [email protected] | Fax: (901) 465-5242; offers CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training – call to register.
EMS: Fayette County Ambulance Service – confirm current phone via fayettetn.us.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-64 and SH-57 serve Somerville, the county seat, in southwest Tennessee near Memphis
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: Fayette County was established September 29, 1824 by the Tennessee General Assembly from Shelby and Hardeman counties, named for the Marquis de Lafayette. Somerville, the county seat, honors Lieutenant Robert Somerville, killed in 1814 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend while serving under Andrew Jackson.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Fayette County Building/Permits – confirm current contact via fayettetn.us.
Notes: Fayette County is the site of one of the most historically significant grassroots civil rights actions in American history: “Tent City” (also called “Freedom Village”), 1960-1962. After roughly 1,400 Black residents registered to vote in this heavily segregated county in 1960, white landowners evicted 257+ Black sharecropping families in direct retaliation – ultimately displacing 345 families countywide. An anonymous white merchant sold or donated 14 canvas Army tents, pitched on farmer Shepard Towles’ land; a second, larger encampment later formed on Gertrude Beasley’s farm. Local leaders John and Viola McFerren and WWII veteran Harpman Jameson, both founders of the Fayette County Civic and Welfare League, led the movement for roughly two years while it drew national press coverage, volunteer support from college students, and donated supplies from labor unions nationwide. The November 1960 election was the first in which local Black residents could vote, and in December the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division filed suit under the Civil Rights Act of 1957 to end the evictions – Fayette County’s movement is documented as one of the longest sustained civil rights protests in U.S. history and a real catalyst toward the Civil Rights Act of 1960. A historical marker stands today at the intersection of Hwy 76/County Road 195 and LaGrange Road, south of Somerville.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Fayette County Veteran’s Service Office – Officer William Wright | 16265 Highway 64, Somerville, TN 38068 | (901) 465-5256 | Fax: (901) 465-5075
State: Tennessee Department of Veterans Services – tn.gov/veteran
Resource: Fayette Cares, Inc. (with DAV Homeless Veterans Initiative support) – assists homeless veterans; confirm current hours via findhelp.org.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Fayette County Public Library, Somerville – offers books, periodicals, DVDs, and music; confirm current address/phone via fayettetn.us.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Tent City historical marker and related civil rights heritage sites (see above) are the county’s most historically significant landmarks – a genuine, deeply important piece of American civil rights history, documented extensively by the University of Memphis’s “Tent City: Stories of Civil Rights in Fayette County, Tennessee” archive project.
Notes: The Tent City history is among the most historically significant civil rights sites covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Fayette County Assessor of Property – confirm current phone via fayettetn.us.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Fayette County Animal Shelter – 400 Clark Road, Somerville, TN 38068; call ahead for an appointment.
Nonprofit: Friends of Fayette County Animal Shelter – a 501(c)(3) working toward building a new shelter facility on a 5-acre tract donated by the Fayette County Commission, located next to the Criminal Justice Complex in Somerville; an active, ongoing fundraising effort.
Notes: The current shelter facility’s exact status/location may be evolving given the active new-shelter fundraising campaign – confirm directly before a visit.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Fayette County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via fayettetn.us.
NOTES: Fayette County is the third county in this batch (Dickson, Dyer, Fayette, Fentress, Franklin, Gibson, Giles) of the Tennessee v2 redo. The genuine Tent City civil rights history is one of the most historically significant sites covered in this entire project – a real, well-documented, and nationally consequential grassroots movement. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Fayette County
Fayette County is Memphis’s primary eastern exurban county – a community with a significant civil rights history and rapid suburban growth driven by Memphis metropolitan expansion.
Somerville (the county seat, population ~3,000) is a compact West Tennessee courthouse town serving a county rapidly transitioning from agricultural to exurban residential character.
The 1959-60 Tent City episode – when hundreds of Black families evicted for voter registration attempts lived in emergency tent communities through a Tennessee winter – was one of the most dramatic confrontations of the early civil rights movement, predating the more celebrated urban protests by several years.
Oakland and Piperton along the US-64 corridor have absorbed significant Memphis suburban growth with new subdivisions, retail, and schools.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Fayette County Assessor of Property at 16755 Highway 64, Suite 104, Somerville, TN 38068, phone 901-465-5226. No TN income, inheritance, or estate tax.
Courts & Legal
Fayette County Chancery Court at 16755 Highway 64, Somerville, TN 38068, phone 901-465-5213, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
16549 Highway 64, Somerville, TN 38068
(901) 465-5215
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Fayette County Clerk and Master, Somerville (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Fayette County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Clerk and Master, Fayette County PO Box 220, Somerville, TN 38068 (901) 465-5219 Fayette County is in West Tennessee, seated in Somerville.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Tennessee has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code. Instead, Tennessee uses its own common form and solemn form probate framework, governed by Title 30 of the Tennessee Code Annotated. In Fayette County, the Clerk and Master (part of Chancery Court) administers probate.
Small Estate Affidavit (T.C.A. §§ 30-4-101 through 30-4-103) – available when the value of the probate estate does not exceed $50,000 (personal property; real property is generally excluded). The affidavit can be filed no sooner than 45 days after death. A bond payable to the state is commonly required to protect creditors and other heirs, though it is often waived when the person filing is the estate’s sole heir/beneficiary, or when all heirs consent in writing.
Common Form Probate – the standard, uncontested path: the will (if any) is admitted to probate without formal notice to all interested parties, and the personal representative is appointed and issued Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (without a will).
Solemn Form Probate – used when formal proof of the will’s validity is needed, typically because of an anticipated will contest; requires notice to all interested parties and a hearing.
Muniment of Title – used to transfer real estate when there is a valid will but no other assets requiring administration.
Step 2: filing for administration
The personal representative (or an interested party) files the original will (if one exists) and a Petition for Probate of Will or Petition for Letters of Administration with the Fayette County Clerk and Master.
The court issues Letters Testamentary (testate) or Letters of Administration (intestate), giving the personal representative authority to act.
The personal representative publishes notice to creditors in a local newspaper; creditors generally have a limited window (commonly around 4 months from the notice) to file claims.
The personal representative inventories and appraises the estate’s assets (may be waived by the will or by all beneficiaries).
The personal representative pays valid debts, expenses, and taxes.
The estate is closed with a final accounting (unless waived) and distribution to beneficiaries or heirs.
What it costs
Filing fees vary by county; confirm current fees with Fayette County directly.
Tennessee has no statutory fee schedule for attorneys or executors – fees must be “reasonable” and are subject to court approval if contested.
Tennessee does NOT impose a state estate tax or a state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax may apply, and only to very large estates.
Typical timeline for a simple, uncontested estate: roughly 6-9 months.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
16575 Highway 64, Somerville, TN 38068
(901) 465-5225
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTION COMMISSION
16549 Highway 64, Somerville, TN 38068
(901) 465-5238
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
13375 US Highway 64, Somerville, TN 38068
(901) 465-3806
DHS Office
16515 Hwy 64, Somerville, TN 38068
(901) 465-2192
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Fayette County Health Department – confirm current contact via fayettetn.us.
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Editorial Trust
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Somerville
Population: 42,000
Established: 1824
Tier: 3
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Fayette County residents.
