Editing Fairfield, Iowa (section)

==History==
The area now known as Jefferson County was first settled in 1836 and became Jefferson County in 1839, with the new community of Fairfield as the [[county seat]]. The name was suggested by Nancy Bonnifield, one of the settlers, because it aptly described the fair fields of the area. But author Susan Welty suggests it was also a play of words on the woman's own name (bonny field).<ref name="EBeb">{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/200404/Fairfield |title=Fairfield (2011) |publisher=In Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=March 20, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Welty">{{cite book |last=Welty |first=Susan |title=A Fair File |publisher=Harlo Press |year=1968 |pages=13–43,87,106–108}}</ref> By 1840, Fairfield had a population of 110 and grew to 650 in 1847.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.growfairfield.com/pdf/2009_FEDA_Community_Quick_Reference.pdf |title=Fairfield, Iowa: Community Quick Reference |access-date=May 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100415135305/http://www.growfairfield.com/pdf/2009_FEDA_Community_Quick_Reference.pdf |archive-date=April 15, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The city was the site of the first and second [[Iowa State Fair]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iowastatefair.org/about-us/history/its-beginnings/|title=History / Museum – Iowa State Fair|website=Iowa State Fair|access-date=October 2, 2018|archive-date=March 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314180209/http://www.iowastatefair.org/about-us/history/its-beginnings/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The first fair was held October 25–27, 1854, on {{convert|6|acre|ha}} of land surrounded by a {{convert|10|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} fence. The total cost to hold the fair was around $320, and public admission was 25 cents per person. It is estimated that between 7,000 and 10,000 fair goers attended this historical event.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://iowastatefair.com/about/trivia.php |title=Iowa State Fair |publisher=Trivia |access-date=December 11, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130160719/http://iowastatefair.com/about/trivia.php |archive-date=November 30, 2010 }}</ref> Parsons College was founded in 1875.<ref name="EBeb"/> In 1893, the Carnegie Library was completed, the first west of the Mississippi.<ref name="Welty" /> During the time leading up to the [[American Civil War]], Fairfield was a stopping point for the [[Underground Railroad]]. Ultimately, over 1,600 residents of Jefferson County served in the [[Union Army]].<ref name="Welty" />

Early architecture in Fairfield includes [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] houses designed by George Franklin Barber,<ref>{{cite book |title=Victorian Architecture: An American Catalog of Designs |author=George Franklin Barber |publisher=Dover |year=2004 |page=xiii}}</ref> as well as a 1915 house designed by Barry Byrne, who trained under Frank Lloyd Wright.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.antiquehomestyle.com/styles/notable-houses/clarke-prairie.htm |title=Dr. James Frederic Clarke House |publisher=Antique Home Style |access-date=November 18, 2010}}</ref> A 1930s bank building was designed in the [[Streamline Moderne]] style.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jonathan Lipman |title=Frank Lloyd Wright and the Johnson Wax Buildings |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |year=2003 |page=31}}</ref> Commercial and institutional architecture were influenced by the Louden Industries, including the Louden Foundry.<ref>{{cite book |author=John Michael Vlach |title=Barns |publisher=W. W. Norton |year=2003 |page=156}}</ref> Fairfield is the site of the prototype [[Carnegie library]].

In 1892, [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[James F. Wilson|"Jefferson Jim" Wilson]] met with [[Andrew Carnegie]] and secured a grant to build the first community-based library in the U.S. This served as the model for 2,700 libraries worldwide. The [[Richardsonian Romanesque]] work is now operated by [[Indian Hills Community College]] as a satellite campus building, as a new library was built in 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://clip.grad.uiowa.edu/iowa-carnegie-public-libraries|title=Iowa Carnegie Public Libraries|publisher= Carnegie Libraries in Iowa Project at The University of Iowa|access-date=February 5, 2010}}</ref>

Parsons College later received a grant to build a Carnegie Library. Fairfield became one of the few cities that had two Carnegie Libraries.