Fayette County is one of 92 counties in U.S. state of Indiana located in the east central portion of the state. As of 2010, the population was 24,277. The county seat and only incorporated town is Connersville which holds a majority of the county's population.The county is a severely economically depressed area with high unemployment. Though the county was historically significant early in the 19th century as a conduit for settlement of the Northwest Territory, and again in the early 20th century as an automotive manufacturing center, there is little of historical, economic, cultural or political significance in the county today. The county lacks a commercial airport, rail (freight) and bus service, and has no major (U.S. or Interstate) highways.HistoryPredecessor countiesAt the organization of the Indiana Territory from the Northwest Territory in 1800, present day Indiana was divided between Knox county in the south, and Wayne county including northern Ohio north of Fort Wayne in the north. By the Ohio Enabling Act of 1802 settlers in the Whitewater valley became citizens of Indiana Territory and residents of Clark county, which had been organized from the eastern part of Knox in 1801, with the county seat at Falls of the Ohio, later called Clarksville.On Sept. 30, 1809, the United States, on behalf of the Northwest Territory and Governor William Henry Harrison, concluded the Treaty of Fort Wayne, part of whose terms included the purchase from the Indians of a strip of land locally called "The 12 Mile Purchase" enclosing the White Water Valley and comprising the largest portion of the future county. Conclusion of the Treaty essentially ended Indian occupation of the county and cleared the way for settlement.