Fairfield, Connecticut - History - Twentieth Century

Twentieth Century

World War I brought Fairfield out of its agrarian past by triggering an unprecedented economic boom in Bridgeport, the center of a large munitions industry. The prosperity created a housing shortage in the city, and many of the workers looked to Fairfield to build their homes. The 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 through 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 Depression, the town kept growing.

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

Fairfield is the home of the corporate headquarters of General Electric (GE), one of the world's largest companies.

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, Connecticut
Postcard from 1932 showing bathers at Fairfield Beach
Historical Postcard of the Tide Mill Tavern
Fairfield's Burr Homestead in a 1938 photo
Pequot Library in Southport, 1966
Southport Congregational Church, 1966
Historical Woodcut from c1840 Showing Old Town Hall and Town Green
Trinity Church in Southport, 1966
Penfield Reef Lighthouse is located in the Long Island Sound off the coast of Fairfield Beach
Bellarmine Hall at Fairfield University

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