The Fairfield Historic District encompasses the historic town center of
Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Easton, Weston, and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. Located within the New York metropolitan area ...
, roughly along Old Post Road between
U.S. Route 1
U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...
and Turney Road. The area contains Fairfield's town hall, public library, and houses dating from the late 18th century, and includes portions of the town's earliest colonial settlement area. The district was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1971.
History
Fairfield's town center was laid out in the 17th century by its founders, who included
Roger Ludlow
Roger Ludlow (1590–1664) was an English lawyer, magistrate, military officer, and colonist. He was active in the founding of the Colony of Connecticut, and helped draft laws for it and the nearby Massachusetts Bay Colony. Under his and John Mas ...
. The area was divided into Four Squares, one for Ludlow, one for a minister, one for civic buildings, and one for a town common. Elements of this early division survive in the layout and placement of civic and religious buildings. The village center
was burned in 1779 by British troops during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, resulting in the destruction of all of the town's civic buildings and many houses. The district hosts a concentration of houses that did survive the military raid, and the town hall, built in 1794, is still evocative of the architecture of that period.
Contributing elements
The district includes about 75 historically significant buildings on of land. It extends from a junction of Old Post Road with US 1 in the west, to Turney Road in the east, and includes buildings on Old Post Road and a few cross streets. The most significant elements of the historic district include:
[ and ]
*the town green
*the town hall
*the Rising Sun Tavern, No. 1 Town Hall Green, built 1783
*Silliman House, 543 Old Post Road, built 1791 by William Silliman, son of militia general
Gold Selleck Silliman
Gold Selleck Silliman (1732–1790) was a Connecticut militia General during the American War for Independence.
Biography
Silliman was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, graduated from Yale University and practiced law and served as a crown attorney ...
*the Fairfield Academy, now known as Old Academy, which was moved
*249 Beach Road, which reportedly survived the British burning by a servant dowsing the flames (see photo page 15 of accompanying photos)
*303 Beach Road,
*349 Beach Road, a
saltbox
A saltbox house is a gable-roofed residential structure that is typically two stories in the front and one in the rear. It is a traditional New England style of home, originally timber framed, which takes its name from its resemblance to a woode ...
house from before 1750
*Burr Mansion, 739 Old Post Road
*952 Old Post Road
File:FairfieldCT TownHall.jpg, Town Hall
File:OLD ACADEMY OR FAIRFIELD ACADEMY, FAIRFIELD, CT.jpg, Old Academy
File:SunTavern(OneTownHallGreen)-FairfieldCT.jpg, Sun Tavern
See also
*
References
External links
{{National Register of Historic Places
Fairfield, Connecticut
Historic districts in Fairfield County, Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Fairfield County, Connecticut
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut