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History · Fairfield

Fairfield’s post office opened in 1908

Most of Fairfield was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1950.

1908first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fairfield’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fairfield began

When was Fairfield founded?

1908

The Fairfield post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 693 in 19502020 census: 759118 years
Founding year: the first Fairfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
The story

How Fairfield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fairfield.

Read it all →

Even though the federal government opened Montana to homesteading in 1862, this area was not initially settled. Given Montana's vast and dry landscape, irrigation was necessary. In 1902 irrigation projects began, which did lead to increased grain production. Then in 1903 the Bureau of Reclamation conducted a survey of the area. The potential of the Sun River Valley was deemed so great it was promoted as “the greatest farming country under the dome of Heaven.” In 1909 homestead size was increased from 160 acres to 320 acres. This change began drawing many more settlers to Montana.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fairfield, 1908 to 1950

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1908Post officeThe Fairfield post office opens
  3. 1935In the archiveUntitled
  4. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Fairfield, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s6 items
Untitled1935UntitledBank1939BankEditor of Fairfield Times. Fairfield, Montana1939Editor of Fairfield Times. Fairfield, MontanaMaking up the Fairfield Times. Fairfield, Montana1939Making up the Fairfield Times. Fairfield, MontanaMain street1939Main streetMain street1939Main street
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Fairfield on the map, 1950 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fairfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Fairfield on the 1950 USGS mapFairfield on the 1983 USGS map1950Fairfield sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fairfield.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Untitled
Retake this viewUntitled, 1935

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fairfield’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Fairfield, census by census

02004006008001960198020002020Peak: 759

Between 638 and 759 people in every census since 1950.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fairfield’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Fairfield

Nobody well known was born in Fairfield itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
George MontgomeryAmerican actor · b. 1916
Gerald R. MolenAmerican film producer · b. 1935
William RothAmerican politician · b. 1921
R
R. Gordon WassonAmerican ethnobiologist · b. 1898
Coby KarlAmerican basketball player and coach · b. 1983
Ian MacDonaldAmerican actor · b. 1914
Help out

Finish Fairfield’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewUntitled: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Fairfield’s history

What year was Fairfield founded?

The Fairfield post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.