Changing Fairfield
A Growing Suburb
“Every community has a character of its own. Fairfield has a character that says it’s a fine residential community and its people are willing to pay for it. That’s what happened here since 1900.” John Sullivan
Making plans to manage future growth was an important part governing Fairfield during this period. A comprehensive town plan in 1961 that set guidelines for industrial development, historic districts, and open space was accompanied by specific studies of population, economics, circulation, the center of town and the shore area.
In 1975, the Ladies Home Journal selected Fairfield as one of “America’s Best Suburbs.” This recognition came after an era of rapid growth, when Fairfield's population jumped from 46,000 in 1960 to 56,000 in 1970. Directing the town's growth was a major priority for First Selectman John Sullivan, who led town government throughout the 1960s and 1970s and was known as "Mr. Fairfield."
Throughout these years, Fairfielders debated how much they were willing to let the community change. Part of Fairfield’s appeal as a suburb lay in being insulated from some of the broad social changes affecting the country in these years, and the town continued to maintain its identity as a quiet suburb.
Some types of development were hotly contested. Sullivan championed the King’s Highway Urban Renewal Project, planning to obtain federal funding to revitalize an area which had been decimated by I-95 by encouraging new industrial and commercial development. He met opposition from “Fairfielders for Property Rights,” who raised fears that the plan would "bring crime, public housing, and urban renewal to Fairfield,” and voters rejected the plan in a referendum.
General Electric – one of the ten largest corporations in the country - opened its headquarters in Fairfield in 1974, becoming the town’s most important taxpayer. In seeking approval from the town in 1971, the corporation promised the community would benefit from the new headquarters, which would provide a “spacious, all-electric environment” for its executives and staff, with parking hidden underground.
Preserving Fairfield
Recognizing that haphazard development could threaten the town's identity, Fairfielders took action in the 1960s to preserve the town’s historic character and some of its natural landscape. Statewide legislation enabled Fairfield to create its first Historic District in 1963. By purchasing the Burr Mansion in 1962, and later Sun Tavern in 1978, and moving the Old Academy to its current location, Fairfield was also able to preserve its historic Town Green.
Preserving the natural landscape was another focus in these years, with the creation of the Conservation Commission in 1964, and the Open Space program in 1965. Through this program, the town purchased property for recreation, conservation, and aesthetic purposes, starting with 119 acres of open land at Lake Mohegan in 1967. In the private sector, the Aspetuck Land Trust formed in 1966 to promote the preservation of natural resources through gifts and purchases of land in Fairfield, Easton, Weston, and Westport.
Growing Up in Fairfield: Haunts and Hangouts
People living in Fairfield were touched by the events of their time, including the war in Vietnam, political upheavals, and tensions between young people and their elders. But those who grew up in Fairfield in the 1960s and 1970s often remember it as a quiet suburban town, where kids could get around on their bicycles and people felt safely removed from the problems facing the world. Teenagers hung out at diners like Cindy's or Duchess, went to the beach and to the Community Theater, and shopped on Post Road at locally-owned businesses like the Fairfield Store and Henry's.
The 1960s were a good time for football fans in Fairfield, with Roger Ludlowe High School's team winning the state championship in 1961, and the New York Giants holding their summer practice at Fairfield University from 1961-1969. While the team's daily workouts were closed to the public, they opened up their Saturday scrimmage to fans, attracting more than a thousand local residents.
For younger players, the Pop Warner football league started in Fairfield in 1966; founder Lou Broderson mentioned to Giants’ owner Wellington Mara the idea of naming the youth team after the Giants, and he became a regular supporter. The town built the Pop Warner league a field in 1968.
Cover of Saturday Evening Post, 1962
The Ludlowe High School 1961 junior prom was featured on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post in 1962. As the magazine explained, artist Ben Prins posed students from the “antiquated Roger Ludlowe High School at the nearby, glitteringly modern Mill Plain Junior High,” which became the site of the new high school in 1963. With the town's growing population, school enrollment increased; in 1963 alone, Sherman, Dwight, Tomlinson, and Roger Ludlowe schools all moved into new buildings to better accommodate the growing student body.