Fairfield dates to 1787, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #681 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Symmes Mission Chapel and the Morgan-Hueston House. Most of Fairfield was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1960.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1843.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 48% of U.S. towns, #681 of 993 in Ohio. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fairfield’s overall grade.
Ohio towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Ohio town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Fairfield’s 0.4 sits near the middle of its state (47% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1787.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikidata (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.
School Number 1schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 8schoolSchool Number 9schoolStockton Post Officepost officeSymmes Corners Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Fairfield
Stockton
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Fairfield’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fairfield’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Prior to European settlement the Fairfield area was home to several Indian tribes, most prominently the Shawnee and the Miami. The prehistoric Hopewell and Adena peoples constructed numerous earthworks around the city, though most were unwittingly removed by early settlers in order to accommodate farm fields.
The area that is now Fairfield was part of the original Symmes Purchase. Also known as the Miami Purchase, the region was acquired by Judge John Cleves Symmes from the Continental Congress in 1788 and included much of the land between the Little Miami and Great Miami rivers that became the present day counties of Hamilton, Butler, and Warren.
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.
In 1787, according to Wikidata. Fairfield’s post office opened in 1843, and the census of 1960 counted 9,734 people here.
How does Fairfield rank for history?
Fairfield is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #681 of 993 in Ohio. 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?
Two places: the Symmes Mission Chapel (listed 1980) and the Morgan-Hueston House (1990).
How old are the homes in Fairfield?
2% of Fairfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) 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.
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