Fairfield County, Connecticut

This article is about the county in Connecticut. For the town in Connecticut, see Fairfield, Connecticut.

For other places with the same name, see Fairfield County.

Fairfield County
County
Location within the U.S. state of Connecticut
Connecticut's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 41°14′N 73°22′W
Country	United States
State	Connecticut
Founded	1666
Seat	none; since 1960 Connecticut counties no longer have a county government Fairfield (1666-1853) Bridgeport (1853-1960)
Largest city	Bridgeport
Area
• Total	837 sq mi (2,170 km2)
• Land	626 sq mi (1,620 km2)
• Water	211 sq mi (550 km2)  25.23%
Population  (2000)
• Total	882,567
• Density	1,410/sq mi (545/km2)

Named after the extremely large area of salt-marshes and swamps both on the coast and inland, Fairfield County is located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. Its population according to the 2000 census was 882,567, but a 2006 survey put the population at 905,000. It is the most populous county in the State of Connecticut.

It is one of the highest-income counties in the United States, and home to wealthy New York City metropolitan suburbs such as Greenwich, Darien, Westport, Fairfield, Weston, Ridgefield, Wilton and New Canaan. In addition to its wealthy communities, Fairfield County is home to many lower-middle and working class-cities. Bridgeport, Danbury, and Norwalk, as well as other larger communities are more densely populated and economically diverse than the affluent areas for which the county is better known.

The towns in Fairfield County bordering Long Island Sound are sometimes referred to as The Gold Coast.

The county's largest cities are Bridgeport, Stamford, Norwalk, and Danbury. Together these cities contain about 420,000 people; almost half the population of the county.

As is the case with all eight of Connecticut's counties, there is no county government, and no county seat. In Connecticut, towns are responsible for all local government activities, including fire and rescue, schools, and snow removal; in a few cases, neighboring towns will share certain resources. Fairfield County is merely a group of towns on a map. The county also had a Sheriff's Department until November 2000 when the office of County Sheriff in Connecticut counties was eliminated. Following that, in December 2000, all Deputy Sheriffs were transferred to Connecticut State Judicial Marshals.

Government and municipal services

As of 1960, counties in Connecticut do not have any associated county government structure. All municipal services are provided by the towns. In order to address issues concerning more than one town, several regional agencies that help coordinate the towns for infrastructure, land use, and economic development concerns have been established. Within the geographical area of Fairfield County, the regional agencies are:

• Greater Bridgeport
• South Western
• The Valley (partly in New Haven County)
• Housatonic Valley (partly in Litchfield County)

Law enforcement

Fairfield County, Connecticut Sheriff's Department patch

Law enforcement within the geographic area of the county is provided by the respective town police departments. In the less dense areas, such as Sherman, law enforcement is primarily provided by the Connecticut State Police. Prior to 2000, a County Sheriff's Department existed for the purpose of executing judicial warrants, prisoner transport, court security, Bailiff, and county and state executions. These responsibilities have now been taken over by the Connecticut State Marshal System.

Judicial

The geographic area of the county is served by the three separate judicial districts: Danbury, Stamford-Norwalk, and Fairfield. Each judicial district has a superior court located, respectively, in Danbury, Stamford, and Bridgeport.

Fire protection

Fire protection in the county is provided by the towns. Several towns also have fire districts that provide services to a section of the town.

Education

Education in the county is usually provided by the town governments. The exceptions are the towns of Redding and Easton, which joined together to form a regional school district (Region 9).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 837 square miles (2,168 km²), of which, 626 square miles (1,621 km²) of it is land and 211 square miles (547 km²) of it (25.23%) is water.

The terrain of the county trends from flat near the coast to hilly and higher near its northern extremity. The highest elevation is 1,290 feet (393 m) above sea level along the New York state line south of Branch Hill in the Town of Sherman; the lowest point is sea level itself.

The Berkshire Mountains range of the Appalachian Mountains run through Fairfield County, beginning roughly in Ridgefield and running north to Litchfield County and beyond.

Except for the Town of Sherman (860), all of Fairfield County is in area code 203. (In the near future, area code 475 is planned to overlay 203.)

Adjacent counties

• Litchfield County (north)
• New Haven County (east)
• Westchester County, New York (southwest)
• Putnam County, New York (west)
• Dutchess County, New York (northwest)

National protected areas

• Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge (part)
• Weir Farm National Historic Site

History

Fairfield County was the home of many small, unconnected Native American tribes prior to the coming of the Europeans. From east to west the Wappani sachemships included the Paugussetts, Tankiteke, and the Siwanoy. There were also Paquioque and Potatuck inhabitants of Fairfield County. The Dutch explorer Adriaen Block explored coastal Connecticut in the Spring and early Summer of 1614 in the North American built vessel Onrust. The first European settlers of the county, however, were Puritans and Congregationalists from England. Roger Ludlow (1590-1664), one of the founders of the Colony of Connecticut, helped to purchase and charter the towns of Fairfield (1639) and Norwalk (purchased 1640, charted as a town in 1651). Ludlow is credited as having chosen the name Fairfield. The town of Stratford was settled in 1639 as well by Adam Blakeman (1596-1665). William Beardsley (1605-1661) was also one of the first settlers of Stratford in 1639.

Fairfield County was established by an act of the Connecticut General Court in Hartford along with Hartford County, New Haven County, and New London County; which were the first four Connecticut counties, on May 10, 1666. From transcriptions of the Connecticut Colonial Records for that day:

This Court orders that from the east bounds of Stratford

to y^e bounds of Rye shalbe for future one County w^ch

shalbe called the County of Fairfield. And it is ordered

that the County Court shalbe held at Fairfield on the second

Tuesday in March and the first Teusday of November

yearely. (sic)

Some other early county inhabitants included:

• Joseph Hawley (born 1603 in England; died 1690), who had emigrated to America in 1629 and then settled in Stratford in 1650, later becoming Stratford's first town clerk. Joseph Hawley's son Ephraim built the Ephraim Hawley House in 1683 in Trumbull that is still standing and serves as a private residence.
• Thomas Fitch (c. 1700-1774), from Norwalk, was a governor of the Colony of Connecticut.
• Gold Selleck Silliman (1732-1790) of the town of Fairfield fought for the Americans during the American Revolutionary War and rose to the rank of Brigadier General by 1776. He fought in the New York campaign that year.

During the Revolutionary War, Connecticut's prodigious agricultural output led to it being known informally as "the Provisions State". In the spring of 1777, the British Commander-in-Chief, North America General William Howe, in New York City, ordered William Tryon to interrupt the flow of supplies from Connecticut that were reaching the Continental Army. Tryon and Henry Duncan led a fleet of 26 ships carrying 2,000 men to Westport's Compo Beach to raid Continental Army supply depots in Danbury on April 22, 1777. American Major General David Wooster (1710–1777), who was born in Stratford, was in charge of the stores at Danbury and defended them with a force of only 700 troops. Sybil Ludington helped rally New York militia to aid in the defense of Danbury. The New York militia included Sybil's father Colonel Henry Ludington. Though they arrived too late to save Danbury from burning, the elder Ludington and the New York militia helped support the Danbury troops and ensuing engagement of the British known as the Battle of Ridgefield on April 27 1777. Wooster was wounded at Ridgefield and died five days later in Danbury.

Two years later during a British raid on Greenwich on February 26, 1779 General Israel Putnam, who had stayed at Knapp's Tavern the previous night, rode away on his horse to warn the people of Stamford. Putnam was shot at by the British raiders but was able to escape. The hat he was wearing with a musket ball hole in it is on display at Knapp's Tavern in Greenwich (which is commonly, albeit somewhat erroneously, called Putnam's cottage). In the summer of 1779, General William Tryon sought to punish Americans by attacking civilian targets in coastal Connecticut with a force of about 2,600 British troops. New Haven was raided on July 5th, Fairfield was raided on the 7th and burned. Norwalk was raided on July 10th and burned on the 11th. Norwalk militia leader Captian Stephen Betts put up resistance to the invaders, but was overwhelmed by the powerful British raiders and was forced to retreat.

David Sherman Boardman (1786-1864) was a prominent early lawyer and judge in this and neighboring Litchfield County.

On October 7, 1801 Neremiah Dodge and other members of the Danbury Baptist Association wrote a letter to then president Thomas Jefferson expressing their concern that as Baptists they may not be able to express full religious liberty in the state of Connecticut whose "ancient charter" was adopted before the establishment of a Baptist church in the state. Jefferson replied in a letter to Dodge and the other members of the Danbury church on January 1, 1802 in which he thought that there was "a wall of separation between church and State" that protected them. This well-known phrase occurs in Jefferson's letter to the Danbury church members and not in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, nor in later amendments.

Preparing to re-launch the USS G-3 with sponsons from the Lake Torpedo Boat Company in Bridgeport, December 9, 1915.

Although it is often viewed as an extension of metro-New York City, Fairfield County has had much industry in its own right. Bridgeport Machines, Inc., a milling machine manufacturer, was founded in Bridgeport in 1938. Stamford, Connecticut is an example of edge city urbanization, with many large and important companies having offices there and benefitting from proximity to New York.

A 1930s Sikorsky S-42 constructed in Stratford.

At the height of its influence in the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan had a distinct presence in the county and county politics. The group was most active in Darien. The Klan has since disappeared from the county.

Fairfield County, along with all other Connecticut counties, was abolished as a county in accord with state legislation that took effect October 1, 1960.

Politics

Presidential elections results

Year	Republican	Democratic
2004	47.3% 189,605	51.4% 205,902
2000	43.1% 159,659	52.3% 193,769
1996	41.4% 144,632	48.9% 172,337
1992	42.8% 175,158	39.1% 160,202
1988	59.0% 221,316	39.9% 149,630
1984	65.8% 257,319	33.8% 132,253
1980	54.9% 201,997	33.7% 124,074
1976	58.1% 209,458	41.2% 148,353
1972	64.0% 233,188	34.3% 125,128
1968	51.8% 173,108	41.7% 139,364
1964	39.2% 125,576	60.8% 194,782
1960	53.4% 167,778	46.6% 146,442

Fairfield County has leaned slightly Democratic since 1992 when George H.W. Bush won a majority in the county. During the 2004 Presidential Election voters favored John Kerry over George W. Bush by a 51.4% to 47.3% margin. Liberals hold firm majorities in Danbury, Bridgeport, Stratford, Norwalk, Stamford and the affluent town of Westport. Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, Shelton, and Wilton have long been Republican strongholds in the county.

Sports

Several minor league teams make up Fairfield County including the Bridgeport Bluefish in baseball's Independent Atlantic League and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers who are the New York Islanders American Hockey League affiliate.

Professionally almost everyone in Fairfield County root for New York teams (New York Yankees, New York Mets, New York Giants, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, New York Knicks, New York Jets) with the county's proximity to New York City.

Cities, towns, sections of towns and villages

Note: Villages are named localities within towns, but have no separate corporate existence from the towns they are in.

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Transportation

Mass transit

With the county's major thoroughfares, Interstate 95 and the Merritt Parkway, increasingly clogged with traffic, state officials are looking toward mass transit to ease the traffic burden. In the 2005 and 2006 sessions of the Legislature, massive appropriations were made to buy more rail cars for the Metro-North New Haven Line and branch lines. The Bridgeport–Port Jefferson Ferry carries passengers and cars from Bridgeport to Port Jefferson, New York across Long Island Sound. Ferry lines for some commuters in and out of Stamford are also in development.

New office buildings are being concentrated near railroad stations in Stamford, Bridgeport and other municipalities in the county to allow for more rail commuting. Proximity to Stamford's Metro-North train station was cited by the Royal Bank of Scotland as a key reason for locating its new U.S. headquarters building in downtown Stamford; construction on the office tower started in late 2006.

Rail

Commuter Rail is perhaps Fairfield County's most important transportation artery, as it allows many of its affluent residents an efficient ride to Grand Central Terminal in New York City. Service is provided on Metro-North's New Haven Line, and every town on the shoreline has at least one station. Connecting lines bring service to New Canaan from Stamford on the New Canaan Branch, and to Danbury from South Norwalk on the Danbury Branch. Many trains run express from New York to Stamford, making it an easy 35 minute ride. Stamford and Bridgeport are also served by Amtrak, and both cities see a significant number of boardings on the "Regional Northeast Route" (Boston to Newport News, VA). This route also serves other Amtrak stations in Connecticut, including New Haven, New London, and Mystic.

Bus service

Connecticut Transit's Stamford division runs local and inter-city buses to many parts of the county. The Norwalk Transit District serves the Norwalk area in the southern central portion of the county; the Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority serves Bridgeport and eastern Fairfield County; and the Housatonic Area Regional Transit agency serves Danbury and the northern portions of the county.

Air

Within Fairfield County there is the Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford as well as the Danbury Municipal Airport in Danbury.

Major roads

Traffic is widely seen as one of the most significant problems in Fairfield County.

Boston Post Road

U.S. 1, is known by various names along its length, most commonly "Boston Post Road" or simply "Post Road", is the oldest east-west route in the county, running through all of its shoreline cities and towns. Since the route runs along the East Coast, for uniformity's sake, in Connecticut, U.S. 1 east is officially designated "North" and west is officially "South".

The street names that Route 1 takes as it goes from town to town may be potentially confusing. In Greenwich, for instance, it is called Putnam Avenue. In Stamford it becomes Main Street or Tresser Boulevard. In Darien and Fairfield it is called Boston Post Road or "the Post Road". In Norwalk it is known as Connecticut Avenue in the western part of the city and Westport Avenue in the east. In Bridgeport it follows Fairfield Avenue in the west (Black Rock neighborhood) and as Boston Avenue in the east of the city.

Interstate 95

The western portions of Interstate 95 in Connecticut are known as the Connecticut Turnpike or the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike in Fairfield County and it crosses the state approximately parallel to U.S. Route 1. The road is most commonly referred to as "I-95". The highway is six lanes (sometimes eight lanes) throughout the county. It was completed in 1958 and is often clogged with traffic particularly during morning and evening rush hours.

With the cost of land so high along the Gold Coast, state lawmakers say they don't consider widening the highway to be fiscally feasible, although occasional stretches between entrances and nearby exits are now sometimes connected with a fourth "operational improvement" lane (for instance, westbound between the Exit 10 interchange in Darien and Exit 8 in Stamford). Expect similar added lanes in Darien and elsewhere in the Fairfield County portion of the highway in the future, lawmakers and state Department of Transportation officials say.

Merritt Parkway

The Merritt Parkway, also known as "The Merritt" or Connecticut Route 15, is a truck-free scenic parkway that runs through the county parallel and generally several miles north of Interstate 95. Like I-95, the route typically slows down during rush hours, but rarely stops.

The interchange between the Merritt Parkway and Route 7 in Norwalk was completed around the year 2000. The project was held up in a lawsuit won by preservationists concerned about the historic Merritt Parkway bridges. It is now exit 39 off the Merritt, and exit 15 off I-95. The parkway is a National Scenic Byway and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Interstate 84

Interstate 84, which runs through Danbury, is scheduled to be widened to a six-lane highway at all points between Danbury and Waterbury. State officials say they hope the widening will not only benefit drivers regularly on the route but also entice some cars from the more crowded Interstate 95, which is roughly parallel to it. Heavier trucks are unlikely to use Interstate 84 more often, however, because the route is much hillier than I-95 according to a state Department of Transportation official.

U.S. Route 7

With its southern terminus at Interstate 95 in central Norwalk, U.S. Route 7 heads north through Wilton, Ridgefield, and Danbury to points north. In Danbury and almost all of Norwalk, the route is a highway (known as "Super 7" in the Danbury area or "The Connector" in Norwalk) but it becomes a four-lane road just south of the Wilton-Norwalk border and up to Danbury. There is significant opposition to making the route a limited access highway for the entire length by residents of Wilton and Ridgefield. As a compromise between freeway supporters and opponents, the Connecticut Department of Transportation is upgrading the existing 2-lane section to 4 lanes, with a median in some locations. The state is also bypassing the existing 2-lane Route 7 around Brookfield with a freeway, where town officials have long supported an expressway to divert traffic away from the town center.

Connecticut Route 8

Route 8 terminates in downtown Bridgeport from I-95 with Connecticut Route 25 and goes north. It splits from Connecticut Route 25 at the Bridgeport—Trumbull town line and continues north into southeastern Trumbull and Shelton, then beyond the county through some of "The Valley" towns of the Naugatuck River Valley to Waterbury and beyond. Construction of the route provided some impetus for the creation of office parks in Shelton and home construction there and in other parts of The Valley.

Connecticut Route 25

Route 25 Starts in downtown Bridgeport from I 95 with Route 8 and goes north. It splits from Connecticut Route 8 at the Bridgeport—Trumbull town line and continues into Trumbull. The limited access divided expressway ends in northern Trumbull, but Route 25 continues into Monroe, Newtown, and Brookfield.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 882,567 people, 324,232 households, and 228,259 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,410 people per square mile (545/km²). There were 339,466 housing units at an average density of 542 per square mile (209/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 79.31% White, 10.01% Black or African American, 0.20% Native American, 3.25% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.70% from other races, and 2.49% from two or more races. 11.88% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 17.6% were of Italian, 12.4% Irish, 6.5% German and 6.4% English ancestry according to Census 2000.

In 2005 70.9% of Fairfield County's population was Non-Hispanic whites. 10.7% of the population was African-Americans. Asians were 4.1% of the population. Latinos now constituted 14.0% of the population.

As of 2000, 76.2% spoke English, 11.0% Spanish, 2.0% Portuguese, 1.7% Italian and 1.1% French as their first language. Some of the last group were Haitians, although other Haitians would identify Haitian creole as their first language.

There were 324,232 households out of which 34.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.50% were married couples living together, 11.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.60% were non-families. 24.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.18.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.60% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 30.90% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, and 13.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 93.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $65,249, and the median income for a family was $77,690. Males had a median income of $51,996 versus $37,108 for females. The per capita income for the county was $38,350. About 5.00% of families and 6.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.30% of those under age 18 and 6.60% of those age 65 or over.

A plot of recent population trends shows some slight increase:

Hospitals in the county

• Bridgeport Hospital
• Danbury Hospital
• Greenwich Hospital
• Norwalk Hospital
• St. Vincent's Medical Center (Bridgeport) in Bridgeport
• Stamford Hospital

See also

• Historical U.S. Census Totals for Fairfield County, Connecticut
• List of Mountains and Summits in Fairfield County, Connecticut
• List of Registered Historic Places in Fairfield County, Connecticut

External links

Major media in the county

Countywide

• Fairfield County Business Journal
• Fairfield County Weekly's official website

Daily newspapers covering the county

Published within the county

• The Advocate of Stamford - STAMFORD edition, published by Southern Connecticut Newspapers Inc., a subsidiary of the Tribune Company.
• The Advocate of Stamford - NORWALK edition
• Connecticut Post, owned by Media General Group, published in Bridgeport.
• Greenwich Time, published by Southern Connecticut Newspapers Inc., a subsidiary of the Tribune Company.
• The Hour of Norwalk (registration required), controlled by a trust under the ultimate authority of Norwalk Probate Court.
• The News-Times of Danbury, owned by Ottaway Newspapers, a subsidiary of Dow Jones.

Published outside the county

• The Hartford Courant (occasionally covers Fairfield County; owned by the Tribune Company).
• New York Daily News (occasionally covers Fairfield County).
• New York Post (occasionally covers Fairfield County)
• New York Times (occasionally covers Fairfield County).

Spanish language newspapers

• El Sol News, countywide, based in Stamford.
• El Canillita, distributed across southwestern Connecticut.
• Pluma Libre, distributed across southwestern Connecticut.

Broadcast media and cable television

News 12 Connecticut has studios in Norwalk and covers Fairfield County as well as state wide news from Hartford http://www.news12.com/CT.

Colleges

• Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport http://www.hctc.commnet.edu/index.asp
• University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport http://www.bridgeport.edu/pages/1.asp
• University of Connecticut Stamford campus http://www.stamford.uconn.edu/
• Fairfield University in Fairfield http://www.fairfield.edu/
• Norwalk Community College http://www.ncc.commnet.edu/default.asp
• St. Vincent's College in Bridgeport http://www.stvincentscollege.edu/
• Sacred Heart University in Fairfield http://www.sacredheart.edu/
• Western Connecticut State University in Danbury http://www.wcsu.edu/

Culture and the arts

Music: Orchestras in the county

• Greater Bridgeport Symphony. Founded in 1945, its concerts are held at Klein Memorial Auditorium in Bridgeport. The orchestra offers a free outdoors pops concert in the summer at Fairfield University. Gustav Meier has been with the GBSO for 35 years.
• Connecticut Grand Opera, a not-for-profit, professional opera company founded in 1993 and based in Stamford, where it performs at the Palace Theatre. On its web site, the CGO claims to offer "the most ambitious opera season of any company between New York and Boston."
• Danbury Symphony Orchestra. This orchestra does not have its own Web site and only part of a web page at the Danbury Music Center web site is devoted to it.
• Greenwich Symphony Orchestra. Begun in 1958 as the Greenwich Philharmonia, the orchestra has grown to 90 members who perform at the Dickerman Hollister Auditorium at Greenwich High School. It also performs a pops concert in the summer. David Gilbert has been music director and conductor since 1975.
• Norwalk Symphony Orchestra. Its concerts take place in a graceful, large "Norwalk Concert Hall" auditorium of Norwalk City Hall. Founded in 1939, the NSO remained primarily a community orchestra of volunteers. In 1956, the Norwalk Youth Symphony was created, and younger musicians often were invited to be part of the orchestra. Diane Wittry has been music director and conductor since 2002. For the past eight years she has held the same title at the Allentown Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania.
• Ridgefield Symphony OrchestraAnnually, the RSO presents four subscription concerts at the Anne S. Richardson Auditorium at Ridgefield High School, and two chamber music concerts at the Ridgefield Playhouse for the Performing Arts (only one is scheduled in the 2006-07 season), along with an annual "family concert" and performances in Ridgefield schools.
• Stamford Symphony Orchestra The SSO typically gives five pairs of classical concerts and three pops concerts a season at the 1,586-seat Palace Theatre. It also performs a concet for elementary school students and a family concert series.

Other music and arts events

• The Barnum Festival has been held in the Spring in Bridgeport since 1949 to raise money for charity.
• The Connecticut Film Festival is held in the Spring in Danbury.
• The Fairfield County Freestyle Championships are generally held once a semester on the campus of Sacred Heart University. This event showcases the best freestyle dancers and rappers that live, work, or go to school in Fairfield County. The event is sponsored by the SHU Freestyle Club.
• The Gathering of the Vibes musical event has been held in Bridgeport's Seaside Park in 1999, 2000, 2007, and again in 2008.
• The Norwalk Oyster Festival is an annual fair in the city of Norwalk that features craft vendors and live music performances. The festival takes place on the first weekend after Labor Day in Veterans Park, near Long Island Sound.

History and culture links

Historic sites

• National Register of Historic Places listing for Fairfield Co., Connecticut

Tourism links

• Coastal Fairfield County Convention and Visitors Bureau serves Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport, and Shelton and the towns of Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, Wilton, Westport, Weston, Fairfield, Easton, Monroe, Stratford, and Trumbull.
• Northwest Connecticut Convention and Visitors Bureau, serves Litchfield County and communities in northern Fairfield County. In Fairfield County it serves Ridgefield, Redding, Newtown, Bethel, Brookfield, Danbury, Sherman, and New Fairfield.

County business associations and institutions

• Business Council of Fairfield County