urban town (township), Fairfield county, southwestern Connecticut, U.S., on Long Island Sound adjoining Bridgeport (northeast). It includes Southport, a village on Mill River. Possibly named for Fairfield, England, it was settled in 1639 by Roger Ludlow, who in 1637 had been a participant in the Pequot War that nearly destroyed the Pequot Indians. In July 1779 Fairfield was burned by the British and Hessians under Major General William Tryon. Although known as a summer resort, the town also manufactures metallurgical products. Fairfield (1942) and Sacred Heart (1963) universities are located there. The Fairfield Historical Society displays decorative objects of local significance. Area 30 square miles (78 square km). Pop. (1990) 53,418; (2000) 57,340.
Link to this article and share the full text with the readers of your Web site or blog-post.
If you think a reference to this article on "Fairfield (Connecticut, United States)" will enhance your Web site,
blog-post, or any other web-content, then feel free to link to this article,
and your readers will gain full access to the full article, even if they do not subscribe to our service.
You may want to use the HTML code fragment provided below.
We welcome your comments. Any revisions or updates suggested for this article will be reviewed by our editorial staff. Contact us here.
Regular users of Britannica may notice that this comments feature is less robust than in the past. This is only temporary, while we make the transition to a dramatically new and richer site. The functionality of the system will be restored soon.