Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, about five miles southwest of Bridgeport on the Gold Coast of Connecticut. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 57,340.
Fairfield is home to Fairfield University, Sacred Heart University and the headquarters of General Electric and R.C. Bigelow. It considered itself the "dogwood capital of the world" and is the birthplace of people such as Henry Fairfield Osborn, Meg Ryan, and Franco Ventriglia. It is also the hometown of John Mayer, James Blake, Justin Long, and Lewis the cat.
History
In 1639 soon after the Pequot War, Roger Ludlow, a founder of the colony of Connecticut, led a small group of men and a herd of cattle to a place known to the local Paugussett Indians as Unquowa. They established a settlement that was named for the acres of salt marsh that bordered the mainland shore across from Long Island. It is the namesake of Fairfield, Connecticut.
The founding of Fairfield was not without conflict, however. Roger Ludlowe had first seen this area in 1637 when as one of a band of settler-soldiers, he had pursued a group of Pequot Indians to a swamp in Southport. There, the Pequots made a last stand in a brief but bloody war caused by their resistance to settlers expansion into the Pequot's territory in eastern Connecticut. The battle is commemorated by a monument on the Post Road in Southport.
When the Revolutionary War began in the 1770s, Fairfielders were caught in the crisis as much as if not more than the rest of their neighbors in Connecticut. In a predominantly Tory section of the state, 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. Gold Selleck Silliman, whose home still stands on Jennings Road, was put in charge of the coastal defenses. In the spring of 1779, he was kidnapped from his home by Tory forces in preparation for a British raid on Fairfield County. His wife watched from their home as, on the morning of July 7, 1779, approximately 2,000 enemy troops landed on Fairfield Beach near Pine Creek Point and proceeded to invade the town. When they left the following evening, the entire town lay in ruins, burned to the ground as punishment for Fairfield's support of the rebel cause. Ten years later, President George Washington noted after traveling through Fairfield, that " the destructive evidences of British cruelty are yet visible both in Norwalk and Fairfield; as there are the chimneys of many burnt houses standing in them yet."
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, the center of a large munitions industry. 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 through the twenties. By the time of the stock market crash in 1929, the population had increased to 17,000 from the 6,000 it had been just before the war. Even during the Depression, the town kept growing. The opening of the Connecticut Turnpike in the 1950s brought another onslaught of development to Fairfield and by the l960s the town's residential, suburban character was firmly established.
During the 60's, the town was a hotspot for counter-culturists and rucksack wanderers. Jack Kerouac once noted it's "Welcoming community and good liquor stores." Notable preformances by the Grateful Dead and other psychadellic bands were played on old abandoned farms. Sadly, during the Reagan Administration and movement of the Conservative Right, Fairfield abandoned it's old appeal and went for a more stuck up and conformist atmosphere. The town has never been the same.
Geography
The town is on the shore of the Long Island Sound. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 81.1 km² (31.3 mi²). 77.8 km² (30.0 mi²) of it is land and 3.4 km² (1.3 mi² or 4.15%) of it is water.
Fairfield comprises many neighborhoods. The best known are wealthy Southport -- where well-known General Electric Chief Executive Officer Jack Welch lived for many years -- and Greenfield Hill, with its large acreages, famous dogwood trees, and picturesque green with white-spired Congregational church.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there are 57,340 people in the town, organized into 20,397 households and 14,808 families. The population density is 737.2/km² (1,909.3/mi²). There are 21,029 housing units at an average density of 270.4/km² (700.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 95.27% White, 2.04% Asian, 1.09% African American, 0.06% Native American, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.55% from other races, and 0.97% from two or more races. 2.34% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 20,397 households out of which 33.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.8% are married couples living together, 8.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 27.4% are non-families. 22.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.61 and the average family size is 3.07.
In the town the population is spread out with 23.7% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 38 years. For every 100 females there are 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 85.7 males.
The per capita income for the town is $43,670. 2.9% of the population and 1.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 2.8% of those under the age of 18 and 3.6% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Fairfield is notable for, among other things, its very low crime rate. According to the Best Places to Live survey for 2005, Fairfield is tied for second place among the safest cities in the United States. Fairfield is fully protected by the Fairfield Police Department and the Fairfield Firefighters.
Media
Arts & entertainment
Transportation
Fairfield is traversed by U.S. Route 1, Interstate 95, and the Merritt Parkway. It has two Metro-North Railroad stations, Fairfield Station and Southport Station. A third station is being constructed in the Black Rock neighborhood, as part of a large commercial development known as Fairfield Metro Center.
External links
- Official website
- Fairfield Chamber of Commerce
- Fairfield Historical Society
- Fairfield Public Library
