History · Fairfield

17% of Fairfield’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them the Leopold, Aldo, Shack, a National Historic Landmark. Below: maps from 1902 on.

1on the National Register

17%homes built before 1940

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Quick answers

About Fairfield’s history

How historic is Fairfield?

B⁺

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

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 72% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

B⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fairfield’s overall grade.

Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194016.8% of homes (±4.7) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B National Register1 listing, 8.6 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%

NewerOlder

Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Fairfield’s 8.6 sits above most of its state (74% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.7 points).

Founding year: our sources. 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.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Fairfield are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19023 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1975. Watch Fairfield change.A National Historic Landmark1 place on the National Register, including Leopold, Aldo, Shack, a National Historic Landmark.

★ What stands out · 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

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

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On the map

Fairfield on the map, 1902 to 1975

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

1902Briggsville 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.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Fairfield

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

place listed

National Historic Landmark

Leopold, Aldo, Shack

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1978

Leopold, Aldo, Shack

Buildings★ landmark

All 1 listings

Leopold, Aldo, ShackBuilding · listed 1978

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Fairfield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fairfield.

Read it all →

The town is the location of the "sand farm" (Aldo Leopold Shack and Farm) purchased by Aldo Leopold in 1935. A family retreat from the city of Madison, Leopold's attempts to restore health to this abandoned farm, with the help of family and friends, became the inspiration for his masterpiece, "A Sand County Almanac." Leopold died near 'the Shack' while fighting a neighbor's grass fire in 1948.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fairfield, 1850 to 2009

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

19th century
1850Post officeThe Russell's Corners post office opens
1868Post officeThe Russell's Corners post office closes
20th century
1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
21st century
2009LandmarkLeopold, Aldo, Shack named a National Historic Landmark

By decade

Fairfield, decade by decade

Today4 recent

2013Light Blue Barn

2013Dairy Farms - panoramio (1)

2010Whooping Crane - Flickr - GregTheBusker

2004WIMap-doton-Fairfield

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 →

Frederick Jackson TurnerAmerican historian · b. 1861

Zona GaleAmerican author and playwright · b. 1874

Alexander WetmoreAmerican ornithologist and avian paleontologist · b. 1886

Russell W. PetersonAmerican politician and chemist · b. 1916

Daryl MoreyAmerican basketball executive · b. 1972

James J. LindsayUnited States general · b. 1932

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Russell's Corners, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map

Greens Corners

Gone or out of use

Best Ever SchoolschoolGreens Corners SchoolschoolLower Narrows Schoolschool

1cemetery inside Fairfield

Fairfield

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

LewistonIts storyC NewportIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Delton1 historic placeC⁺Baraboo3 historic placesA Caledonia1 historic placeB⁺Greenfield2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Fairfield’s history

How does Fairfield rank for history?

Fairfield is more historic than 72% 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?

One place: the Leopold, Aldo, Shack (listed 1978).

How old are the homes in Fairfield?

17% of Fairfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1986.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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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