Fairfield

History

In 1635, Puritans and Congregationalists in the Massachusetts Bay Colony sought to establish an ecclesiastical society subject to their own rules and regulations. The Massachusetts General Court granted them permission to settle in the towns of Windsor, Wethersfield, and Hartford which is an area now known as Connecticut. By 1639 these settlers had started new towns in the surrounding areas. Roger Ludlowe, the framer of the Fundamental Orders, purchased the land presently called Fairfield, and established the name. According to historian John M. Taylor: "Early in 1639, the General Court granted a commission to Ludlow to begin a plantation at Pequannock. He was on that errand, with a few others from Windsor, afterward joined by immigrants from Watertown and Concord. He stole a large tract of land from the Pequannock sachems, and recalling the attractive region beyond (Uncoa), which he had personally seen on the second Pequot expedition, he also “set down” there, having purchased the territory embraced in the present town of Fairfield, to which he gave its name."

When the American Revolutionary War began in the 1770s, Fairfield was caught in a crisis. In a predominantly Tory section of the colony, the people of Fairfield were early supporters of the cause for independence. Throughout the war, a constant battle was being fought across Long Island Sound as men from British-controlled Long Island raided the coast in whaleboats and privateers.
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Fairfield recovered slowly from the burning, but soon after the end of the war its houses and public buildings had all been rebuilt. World War I brought Fairfield out of its agrarian past by triggering an unprecedented economic boom in Bridgeport, which was the center of a large munitions industry at the time. The prosperity created a housing shortage in the city, and many of the workers looked to Fairfield to build their homes. The trolley and later the automobile made the countryside accessible to these newly rich members of the middle class, who brought with them new habits, new attitudes, and new modes of dress. The prosperity lasted throughout the twenties.

About to Fairfield

Fairfield, Connecticut, is a charming and thriving town featuring five miles of shoreline on the Long Island Sound. Fairfield has five town beaches, two universities, many parks and ball fields, two public golf courses, and a vibrant array of restaurants and stores. Family-oriented Fairfield also has top-notch, high-performing public schools with rich academic programs. Only 50 miles from New York City, Fairfield is easily accessible to I-95 and the Merritt Parkway and has three train stations on the Metro North line that extends from New Haven, Connecticut to New York’s Grand Central Terminal. Fairfield is located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, between the cities of Bridgeport and Stamford, and its 59,000 residents are mostly well educated and fall into a high-income demographic. Consistently ranked in the top 100 in CNN/Money Magazine’s best towns in which to live, Fairfield, in 2006, was ranked as the number one town in the Northeast.

Town Hall

High School

Town Library

Schools

The education of Fairfield’s children is a top priority in town and is evidenced by the top-notch public schools. Fairfield has 11 elementary schools, three middle schools, and two high schools—in addition to an early childhood learning center and an alternative high school. Students also have access to such magnet programs as the Regional Center for the Arts in Trumbull, the Center for Global Studies in Norwalk, and the Aquaculture School in Bridge port. Fairfield consistently outperforms the rest of the state in standardized tests from elementary through high school and 90 percent of high school students graduate and go on to higher education.