Prior to European settlement, the land that is now Fayetteville was inhabited by the Creek Nation. Following a series of treaties in the early 1820s, the land was ceded to the State of Georgia. Fayetteville was founded in 1822 and incorporated in 1823, serving as the seat of the newly formed Fayette County. The city and county were both named in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who served alongside George Washington in the American Revolutionary War.
The city's early history was largely agrarian, centered around cotton farming. In 1825, the Fayette County Courthouse was constructed in the center of town. Today, it holds the distinction of being the oldest surviving courthouse in the state of Georgia. During the American Civil War, the area saw action in 1864 when Union cavalry under General Edward McCook moved through the town during the Atlanta Campaign, resulting in a skirmish with Confederate forces.
Throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries, Fayetteville grew slowly as an agricultural community and, later, as a peaceful bedroom community for those working in nearby Atlanta. The Holliday Dorsey Fife House, an antebellum home built in 1855, survived the Civil War and remains a historic landmark today; it is closely associated with the family of the legendary gunfighter "Doc" Holliday.
The trajectory of Fayetteville's modern history shifted dramatically in 2014 with the opening of Pinewood Atlanta Studios (now Trilith Studios). The massive influx of the film industry brought new infrastructure, diverse populations, and large-scale, mixed-use developments, transforming Fayetteville from a quiet suburb into an economic powerhouse of the Georgia film industry.