Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1804.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Fairfield’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fairfield is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fairfield’s overall grade.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Fairfield’s 22.2 sits near the middle of its state (57% of New York towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 points). Two sources give 1796.
Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Fairfield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fairfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1900Little Falls 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.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Fairfield’s post office has been open since 1804. Another post office, Eatonville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Fairfield
1804–today
Middleville
1820–today
Eatonville
1830–1896
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
EatonvilleMiddlevilleOld City
Gone or out of use
Alexander SchoolschoolLocust Grove SchoolschoolMiddleville Post Officepost officeSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 2schoolSchool Number 7schoolSchool Number 9school
A few settlers, actually tenants, made the future town their home before the American Revolution, but the major influx took place after 1785, mainly from New England.
The town was established from part of the town of Norway in 1796.
From 1802 to 1901, the Fairfield Academy offered secondary and higher education at its campus in the hamlet of Fairfield. From 1812 until 1841, the Fairfield Medical College, a division of the academy, trained medical practitioners, including Marcus Whitman.
Passages that mention Fairfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Fairfield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, from the settlement of the town in 1639 to 18181889 · page 26Read the page →
Read the text
and paid into the public treasury on or before August, 1718. to meet the payment of the outstanding bills of credit. t Mr. Samuel Couch, on behalf of himself and the inhabitants of the western farms of the town of Fairfield, petitioned the Assembly that they should have liberty granted them to provide and settle an orthodox minister among them; and also be freed from paying towards the maintenance of the minister of the first society of the town. This privilege was ordered to be granted in full, at the May session of the Assembly,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Fairfield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, from the settlement of the town in 1639 to 18181889 · page 124Read the page →
Read the text
dred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, which he preached at Trinity Church, Southport, August 10, 1 85 1, states: " The parish of Fairfield had outstripped in some respects the old parish of Stratford, & taken the position of the leading parish in this Colony : — from original papers in the office of the Secretary of State, that of six hundred & thirty-six heads of families, men & women, whose signatures were attached to a petition then presented to the Colonial Assembly from nine parishes under the care of seven missionaries, one hundred & twenty
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Fairfield, 1796 to 1900
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1887Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
On the National Register
4 historic places in Fairfield
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
In 1796, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Fairfield’s post office opened in 1804, and the census of 1820 counted 2,610 people here.
How does Fairfield rank for history?
Fairfield is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Fairfield?
4 listings: 1 building, among them the Trinity Episcopal Church-Fairfield (listed 1993, the first), and 3 structures.
How old are the homes in Fairfield?
36% of Fairfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1972.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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