Editing Fairfield, Connecticut (section)

===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>