Trade & Travel
The coast was also a highway of commerce from the 1600s through the 1880s, as ships carried the products of Fairfield’s farms to New York, Boston, the West Indies and Europe, and brought back goods like cloth, pans, nails, rum, and molasses in exchange.
Harbors at Black Rock and Southport were vital centers of trade, and many of Fairfield’s sons made their careers at sea, sailing from New York or Philadelphia to distant ports.