Like many frontier towns, Lafayette was named for General Lafayette, a French officer who significantly aided George Washington's Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. It was designated as the county seat of the newly formed Tippecanoe County the following year. The town of Lafayette was platted in May 1825 by William Digby, a trader.

An annual reenactment and festival known as Feast of the Hunters' Moon is held there each autumn. The fort became the center of trade for fur trappers, merchants and Indians. In 1717, the French government established Fort Ouiatenon across the Wabash River and three miles (5 km) south of present-day Lafayette. When European explorers arrived at this area, it was inhabited by a tribe of Miami Indians known as the Ouiatenon or Weas. This panoramic map illustrates a bird's-eye view of Lafayette in 1868. It was named for the French general Marquis de Lafayette, a revolutionary war hero. Lafayette was founded in 1825 on the southeast bank of the Wabash River near where the river becomes impassable for riverboats upstream, though a French fort and trading post had existed since 1717 on the opposite bank and three miles downstream. Meanwhile, the 2020 Census listed the neighboring city of West Lafayette at 44,595 and the Tippecanoe County population at 186,291. Together, Lafayette and West Lafayette form the core of the Lafayette metropolitan area, which had a population of 224,709 in the 2021 US Census Bureau estimates.Īccording to the 2020 United States Census, the population of Lafayette was 70,783, a 25% increase from 56,397 in 2000. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which contributes significantly to both communities. Lafayette ( / ˌ l ɑː f iː ˈ ɛ t, ˌ l æ f-/ LAH-fee- ET, LAF-ee- ET) is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located 63 miles (101 km) northwest of Indianapolis and 125 miles (201 km) southeast of Chicago.

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