Editing Fairfield, Connecticut (section)

==History==

=== Colonial era ===

In 1635, [[Puritan]]s and [[Congregationalists]] in the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]], were dissatisfied with the rate of [[Anglican]] reform, and sought to establish an ecclesiastical society subject to their own rules and regulations. The Massachusetts General Court granted them permission to settle in the towns of [[Windsor, Connecticut|Windsor]], [[Wethersfield, Connecticut|Wethersfield]], and [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]] which are now within a state known as [[Connecticut]].

On January 14, 1639, a set of legal and administrative regulations called the [[Fundamental Orders of Connecticut|Fundamental Orders]] was adopted and established Connecticut as a self-ruling entity.  By 1639, these settlers had started new towns in the surrounding areas. [[Roger Ludlowe]], framer of the Fundamental Orders, purchased the land called Unquowa (presently called Fairfield), and established the name. The name "Fairfield" is commendatory.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Connecticut Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qoEyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA332|year=1903|work=Connecticut Magazine Company|page=332}}</ref>

According to historian John M. Taylor:
{{blockquote|Early in 1639, the General Court granted a commission to Ludlowe to begin a plantation at Pequannocke. He was on that errand, with a few others from Windsor, afterwards joined by immigrants from [[Watertown, Massachusetts|Watertown]] and [[Concord, Massachusetts|Concord]]. He stole a large tract of land from the Pequannocke sachems – afterwards greatly enlarged by other purchases to the westward – and recalling the attractive region beyond (Unquowa), which he had personally seen on the second Pequot expedition, he also "set down" there, having purchased the territory embraced by the present town of Fairfield.<ref>Taylor, John M., ''Roger Ludlowe the Colonial Lawmaker'', 1900, Google Book Search, Retrieved May 27, 2008</ref>}}

===Towns created from Fairfield===

Fairfield was one of the two principal settlements of the [[Connecticut Colony]] in southwestern Connecticut (the other was [[Stratford, Connecticut|Stratford]]). The town line with Stratford was set in May 1661 by John Banks, an early Fairfield settler, Richard Olmstead, and [[Joseph Judson|Lt. Joseph Judson]], who were both appointed as a committee by the Colony of Connecticut.<ref>Colonial Records of Connecticut Vol. 1 p. 367</ref> The town line with [[Norwalk, Connecticut|Norwalk]] was not set until May 1685.<ref>Colonial Records of Connecticut Vol. 3 p. 175</ref>

Over time, several new towns broke off and incorporated separately. The following is a list of towns created from parts of Fairfield.
* [[Redding, Connecticut|Redding]] in 1767
* [[Weston, Connecticut|Weston]] in 1787
*[[Easton, Connecticut|Easton]], created from Weston in 1845
* [[Bridgeport, Connecticut|Bridgeport]] in 1821 (also partly from [[Stratford, Connecticut|Stratford]]) and again in 1870 when the [[Black Rock (Bridgeport)|Black Rock]] section left Fairfield
* [[Westport, Connecticut|Westport]] in 1835 (partly from Weston and [[Norwalk, Connecticut|Norwalk]])

===Revolutionary War===
{{See also|Burning of Fairfield (1779)}}

When the [[American 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 [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Tory]] section of the colony, the people of Fairfield were early supporters of the cause for independence. Throughout the war, a constant battle was being fought across the [[Long Island Sound]] as Loyalists from [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]]-controlled [[Long Island]] raided the coast in [[whaleboat]]s and [[privateer]]s. [[Gold Selleck Silliman]], whose home still stands on Jennings Road, was put in charge of the coastal defenses.

In the spring of 1779, Silliman was kidnapped from his home by [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] raiders in preparation for a British raid on Fairfield County. His wife, [[Mary Silliman]] watched from their home as, on the morning of July 7, 1779, approximately 2,000 British troops landed on Fairfield Beach near Pine Creek Point; the force proceeded to [[Burning of Fairfield (1779)|burn Fairfield]] due to the town's support for [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriot]] cause. A decade later, President [[George Washington]] noted that after traveling through Fairfield that "the destructive evidence of British cruelty are [sic] yet visible both in [[Norwalk, Connecticut|Norwalk]] and Fairfield; as there are the chimneys of many burnt houses standing in them yet".<ref>Washington, George. (1860). [https://archive.org/details/diarygeorgewash00washgoog ''The Diary of George Washington, from 1789 to 1791'']. A.D.F. Randolph & Co. p. 21. Google Book Search. Retrieved on March 11, 2008</ref>

===Twentieth century===

The [[World War I|First World War]] brought Fairfield out of its agrarian past by triggering an unprecedented economic boom in Bridgeport, which was the center of a large [[munition]]s industry at the time. The prosperity accompanied a temporary housing shortage in the city, and many of the workers looked to Fairfield to build their homes. The [[tram|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 throughout the twenties.

By the time of the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929]], the population had increased to 17,000 from the 6,000 it had been just before the war. Even during the [[Great Depression|Depression]], the town kept expanding.

The grounding of a barge with two crewmen on Penfield Reef in Fairfield during a gale led to the 1st civilian helicopter hoist rescue in history, on November 29, 1945. The helicopter flew from the nearby [[Sikorsky Aircraft]] plant in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The opening of the [[Connecticut Turnpike]] in the 1950s brought another wave of development to Fairfield, and by the 1960s the town's residential, suburban character was firmly established.

Fairfield became the home of the corporate headquarters of [[General Electric]] (GE), one of the world's largest companies, ca. 1970. On May 8, 2017, GE relocated to Boston, Massachusetts.

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Fairfield Beach Postcard 1932.jpg|Postcard from 1932 showing bathers at Fairfield Beach
File:Tide Mill Tavern Fairfield Connecticut Postcard.jpg|Historical Postcard of the Tide Mill Tavern, [[Southport, Connecticut|Southport]]
File:Burr Homestead.jpg|Fairfield's Burr Homestead in a 1938 photo
File:Pequot Library.jpg|Pequot Library in [[Southport, Connecticut|Southport]], 1966
File:Southport Congregational Church, 1966.jpg|[[Southport, Connecticut|Southport Congregational Church]], 1966
File:Fairfield Connecticut Town Green Woodcut c1840.jpg|Historical Woodcut from {{circa|1840}} Showing Old Town Hall and Town Green
File:Trinity Church Southport Connecticut.jpg|Trinity Church in Southport, 1966
File:Penfield Reef Light.jpg|Penfield Reef Lighthouse is located in Long Island Sound off the coast of Fairfield Beach
File:Bellarmine Hall (three-quarter view) - Jan 2011.JPG|Bellarmine Hall at [[Fairfield University]]
File:1812 Sycamore, Fairfield, CT - October 22, 2012.jpg|The "1812 Sycamore" near Town Hall (cut down in 2013)
File:Pequot Library 1894 historic building.jpg|Historic [[Pequot Library]], founded in 1887, [[Southport, Connecticut|Southport]]
</gallery>