Fairfield County

History

Fairfield County was the home of many Native American tribes prior to the Europeans' arrival. People of the Schaghticoke tribe lived in the area of present-day New Fairfield and Sherman. From east to west the Wappinger sachemships included the Paugussetts, Tankiteke, and the Siwanoy. There were also Paquioque and Potatuck inhabitants of Fairfield County.

The Dutch explorer Adriaen Block explored coastal Connecticut in the spring and early summer of 1614 in the North America-built vessel Onrust. The first European settlers of the county, however, were Puritans and Congregationalists from England. Roger Ludlow (1590–1664), one of the founders of the Colony of Connecticut, helped to purchase and charter the towns of Fairfield (1639) and Norwalk (purchased 1640, chartered as a town in 1651). Ludlow is credited as having chosen the name Fairfield. Fairfield is a descriptive name referring to the beauty of its fields. The town of Stratford was settled in 1639 as well by Adam Blakeman (1596–1665). William Beardsley (1605–1661) was also one of the first settlers of Stratford in 1639.

Fairfield County was established by an act of the Connecticut General Court in Hartford along with Hartford County, New Haven County, and New London County; which were the first four Connecticut counties, on May 10, 1666. From transcriptions of the Connecticut Colonial Records for that day:

This Court orders that from the east bounds of Stratford

to ye bounds of Rye shalbe for future one County wch

shalbe called the County of Fairfield. And it is ordered

that the County Court shalbe held at Fairfield on the second

Tuesday in March and the first Tuesday of November

yearely. [sic]

The original Fairfield County consisted of the towns of Rye, Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk, Fairfield, and Stratford. In 1673, the town of Woodbury was incorporated and added to Fairfield County. In 1683, New York and Connecticut reached a final agreement regarding their common border. This resulted in the cession of the town of Rye and all claims to the Oblong to New York. From the late 17th to early 18th centuries, several new towns were incorporated in western Connecticut and added to Fairfield County, namely Danbury (1687), Ridgefield (1709), Newtown (1711), and New Fairfield (1740). In 1751, Litchfield County was constituted, taking over the town of Woodbury. The final boundary adjustment to Fairfield County occurred in 1788 when the town of Brookfield was incorporated from parts of Newtown, Danbury, and New Milford, with Fairfield County gaining territory from Litchfield County.

Geography

Land

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 837 square miles (2,170 km2), of which 625 square miles (1,620 km2) is land and 212 square miles (550 km2) (25.3%) is water.

The terrain of the county trends from flat near the coast to hilly and higher near its northern extremity. The highest elevation is 1,290 feet (390 m) above sea level along the New York state line south of Branch Hill in the Town of Sherman; the lowest point is sea level itself.

The Taconic Mountains and the Berkshire Mountains ranges of the Appalachian Mountains run through Fairfield County. The Taconics begin roughly in Ridgefield and the Berkshires begin roughly in Northern Trumbull, both running north to Litchfield County and beyond. A portion of the Taconics also is in rural Greenwich and rural North Stamford in Fairfield County and run north into Westchester County, New York, eventually re-entering Fairfield County in Ridgefield. A small portion of the Appalachian Trail runs through Fairfield County; the trail enters Connecticut in the northernmost and least populous town in the county, Sherman, and moves east into Litchfield County, which encompasses the majority of the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut.

The section of the Taconic Mountains range that runs through Greenwich and North Stamford of Fairfield County is also the part of the Appalachians that is closest to the coast out of the entire Appalachian Mountains.

Water

The agreed 1684 territorial limits of the county are defined as 20 miles (32 km) east of New York's Hudson River, which extends into Long Island Sound with a southerly limit of halfway to Long Island, New York. The eastern limit is mostly a natural border defined as the halfway point of the Housatonic River with New Haven County with the exception of several islands belonging wholly to Stratford. The depth of the Sound varies between 60 and 120 feet (18 and 37 m).

The county hosts or contains the rivers Byram, Housatonic, Mianus, Mill, Norwalk, Pequonnock, Rippowam, Saugatuck, and Still.

The Still River is polluted with mercury nitrate from the hat industry in Danbury, also thereafter diluting into the Housatonic River and Long Island Sound.

The Housatonic is residually polluted with Monsanto chemicals called Aroclor, polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. From c. 1932 until 1977, the river received PCB pollution discharges from the General Electric plant at Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Mountains and summits

Refer to List of Mountains and Summits in Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Adjacent counties

Litchfield County (north)

New Haven County (east)

Westchester County, New York (southwest)

Putnam County, New York (west)

Dutchess County, New York (northwest)

Nassau County, New York (south)

National protected areas

Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Weir Farm National Historic Site

Major highways

I-84

I-95 / Conn. Turnpike

I-684

US 1

US 6

US 7

US 202

Route 8

Route 15

Route 25

Route 34

Route 37

Route 110

Route 111

NY 120A

Route 123

Climate

Fairfield County has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa) which borders a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) along Long Island Sound. The hardiness zone is 6b in the north and 7a within ten miles of the coast except for areas of Greenwich and Stamford along the coast which are 7b. [1] Snowfall is most prevalent in February with 27 cm or 11 in. Rainfall mildly changes thought the calendar year, it stays between 80 and 110 mm or 3.1 and 4.3 in. Humidity also mildly changes, however, it is at its highest in the summer months.

See or edit raw graph data.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 957,419. Of the residents, 22.4% were under the age of 18 and 16.2% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 40.3 years. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.2 males. 94.5% of residents lived in urban areas and 5.5% lived in rural areas.

The racial makeup of the county was 61.0% White, 11.2% Black or African American, 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 5.4% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 11.2% from some other race, and 10.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 21.4% of the population.

There were 354,084 households in the county, of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 27.6% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 25.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 378,479 housing units, of which 6.4% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 63.9% were owner-occupied and 36.1% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.1%.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 916,829 people, 335,545 households, and 232,896 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,467.2 inhabitants per square mile (566.5/km2). There were 361,221 housing units at an average density of 578.1 per square mile (223.2/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 74.8% white, 10.8% black or African American, 4.6% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 6.8% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 16.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 18.1% were Italian, 15.9% were Irish, 9.8% were German, 8.7% were English, 5.5% were Polish, and 2.7% were American.

Of the 335,545 households, 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.1% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 30.6% were non-families, and 24.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.21. The median age was 39.5 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $81,268 and the median income for a family was $100,593. Males had a median income of $70,187 versus $50,038 for females. The per capita income for the county was $48,295. About 5.6% of families and 8.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.4% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 882,567 people, 324,232 households, and 228,259 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,410 inhabitants per square mile (540/km2). There were 339,466 housing units at an average density of 542 per square mile (209/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 79.31% White, 10.01% Black or African American, 0.20% Native American, 3.25% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.70% from other races, and 2.49% from two or more races. 11.88% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 17.6% were of Italian, 12.4% Irish, 6.5% German and 6.4% English ancestry.

In 2010, 66.2% of Fairfield County's population was non-Hispanic whites and 10.8% of the population was black. Asians were 4.6% of the population. Hispanics now constituted 16.9% of the population.

As of 2000, 76.2% spoke English, 11.0% Spanish, 2.0% Portuguese, 1.7% Italian and 1.1% French as their first language. Some of the last group were Haitians, although other Haitians would identify Haitian Creole as their first language.

There were 324,232 households, out of which 34.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.50% were married couples living together, 11.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.60% were non-families. 24.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.18.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.60% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 30.90% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, and 13.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $65,249, and the median income for a family was $77,690. Males had a median income of $51,996 versus $37,108 for females. The per capita income for the county was $38,350. About 5.00% of families and 6.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.30% of those under age 18 and 6.60% of those age 65 or over.

Demographic breakdown by town

Data is from the 2010 United States Census and the 2006–2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.

Data is from the 2007–2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates, "Race alone or in combination with one or more other races."

Economy

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, corporations began moving their headquarters to Fairfield County from Manhattan; Thomas J. Lueck of The New York Times said that the trend "permanently decentralized big business in the New York region." During the 1980s many buyouts and reorganizations and an economic recession lead to companies vacating much of the suburban office space in Fairfield County. In 1992 Fairfield County had the headquarters of over 25 major multinational corporations, giving it the third largest concentration of those companies in the United States after New York City and Chicago.

Fairfield County is home to a large concentration of hedge funds and private equity firms, with many located along the Gold Coast in places like Greenwich, Stamford, and Westport. Major hedge funds headquartered in Fairfield County include Bridgewater Associates, AQR Capital, Point72 Asset Management, Lone Pine Capital, Viking Global Investors, and Tudor Investment Corporation.

Fairfield County is the top location for aquaculture in the state.

Government and municipal services

As of 1960, counties in Connecticut do not have any associated county government structure. Thus Fairfield County is only a geographical point of reference. All municipal services are provided by the towns, who sometimes will share certain resources through regionalization. In order to address issues concerning more than one town, several regional agencies that help coordinate the towns for infrastructure, land use, and economic development concerns have been established. Within the geographical area of Fairfield County, the regional agencies are:

Greater Bridgeport

South Western

The Valley (partly in New Haven County)

Housatonic Valley (partly in Litchfield County)

County municipal buildings

Several former county municipal buildings are used by other state or local agencies, including:

The Fairfield County Jail in Bridgeport on the corner of North Avenue and Madison Avenue, still actively used to house prisoners.

The Fairfield County Court Houses in Bridgeport and Danbury which served the county's judicial needs and housed county deputy sheriff's until December 2000. The court houses are still marked "Fairfield County Court House".

Law enforcement

Law enforcement within the geographic area of the county is provided by the respective town police departments, whereas in other states in the region such as New York and Vermont law enforcement would be provided by the local county sheriff's department. In the less dense areas, such as Sherman, law enforcement is primarily provided by the Connecticut State Police. Prior to 2000, a County Sheriff's Department existed for the purpose of executing judicial warrants, prisoner transport, court security, Bailiff, and county and state executions. These responsibilities have now been taken over by the Connecticut State Marshal System.

Some municipalities in the county still maintain a sheriff's department to fill the void of the abolishment of the county sheriff's department, such as the City of Shelton which has established the Shelton Sheriff's Department to carry out warrants in the city.

Judicial

The geographic area of the county is served by the three separate judicial districts: Danbury, Stamford-Norwalk, and Fairfield. Each judicial district has a superior court located, respectively, in Danbury, Stamford, and Bridgeport. Each judicial district has one or more geographical area courts ("GA"'s), subdivisions of the judicial districts that handle lesser cases such as criminal misdemeanors, small claims, traffic violations, and other civil actions.

Fire protection

Fire protection in the county is provided by the towns. Several towns also have fire districts that provide services to a section of the town.

Education

Education in the county is usually provided by the town governments. The exceptions are the towns of Redding and Easton at the secondary level, as those two joined to form a regional secondary school district (Region 9).

School districts include:

K-12:

Secondary:

Regional High School District 09

Elementary:

Easton School District

Redding School District

Sherman School District

Private schools:

Convent of the Sacred Heart

Eagle Hill School

Greens Farms Academy

Greenwich Academy

Greenwich Country Day School

Immaculate High School

Japanese School of New York (Greenwich Japanese School)

Stanwich School

Whitby School

Wooster School

Closed schools:

Carmel Academy

Curtis School for Boys

Crime rate

Fairfield County has a low crime index of 2050.2 (per 100,000 citizens) as well as a murder closure rate of over 70%. Several Governmental agencies, as well as private security contractors, have made note of Fairfield's low crime rates and the county currently has 6 cities and towns with a percentile safety index of 90% or higher compared to the rest of the continental United States (based on violent and property crimes).

Politics

As with neighboring Westchester County, Fairfield County was generally a Republican stronghold for much of the 20th century. Urban municipalities such as Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport trended Democratic, while the suburban and rural enclaves tended to lean Republican. However, during the 1990s, these latter areas began to increasingly shift towards Democratic candidates. Today, only Hartford County has a higher concentration of Democratic voters. The last time the county voted for a Republican presidential candidate was in 1992 for George H. W. Bush.

Hospitals

Bridgeport Hospital

Danbury Hospital

Greenwich Hospital

Norwalk Hospital

St. Vincent's Medical Center (Bridgeport) in Bridgeport

Stamford Hospital

Transportation

Mass transit

With Interstate 95 and the Merritt Parkway increasingly clogged with traffic, state officials are looking toward mass transit to ease the county's major thoroughfares' traffic burden.

New office buildings are being concentrated near railroad stations in Stamford, Bridgeport and other municipalities in the county to allow for more rail commuting. Proximity to Stamford's Metro-North train station was cited by the Royal Bank of Scotland as a key reason for locating its new U.S. headquarters building in downtown Stamford; construction on the office tower started in late 2006.

Within Fairfield County there are two regional airports: Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford and the Danbury Municipal Airport in Danbury.

The county is also served by larger airports such as Bradley International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, Tweed New Haven Regional Airport, and Westchester County Airport.

Connecticut Transit's Stamford division runs local and inter-city buses to the southern part of the county.

The Norwalk Transit District serves the Norwalk area in the southern central portion of the county; the Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority serves Bridgeport and eastern Fairfield County; and the Housatonic Area Regional Transit agency serves Danbury and the northern portions of the county.

The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry carries passengers and cars from Bridgeport to Port Jefferson, New York, across Long Island Sound.

Ferry lines in and out of Stamford are also in development.

Commuter Rail is perhaps Fairfield County's most important transportation artery, as it allows its residents an efficient ride to Grand Central Terminal in New York City. Service is provided on Metro-North's New Haven Line, and every town on the shoreline has at least one station. Connecting lines bring service to New Canaan from Stamford on the New Canaan Branch, and to Danbury from South Norwalk on the Danbury Branch. Many trains run express from New York to Stamford, making it an easy 45-minute ride.

Major roads

U.S. 1 is the oldest east–west route in the county, running through all of its shoreline cities and towns. Known by various names along its length, most commonly "Boston Post Road" or simply "Post Road", it gradually gains latitude from west to east. Thus, U.S. 1 west is officially designated "South" and east is "North".

Though contiguous, U.S. 1 changes name by locality. In Greenwich it is Putnam Avenue. In Stamford, it becomes Main Street or Tresser Boulevard. In Darien, it is Boston Post Road or "the Post Road". In Norwalk, it is Connecticut Avenue in the west, Van Zant St, Cross St, and North Av in the center, and Westport Avenue in the east. In Westport, it is Post Road West from the Norwalk town line until the Saugatuck River, where it becomes Post Road East until Fairfield. In Fairfield, it is again Boston Post Road or "the Post Road". In Bridgeport, it follows Kings Highway in the west, North Avenue in the center, and Boston Avenue in the east. Finally, it becomes Barnum Avenue in Stratford.

The western portions of Interstate 95 in Connecticut are known as the Connecticut Turnpike or the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike in Fairfield County and it crosses the state approximately parallel to U.S. Route 1. The road is most commonly referred to as "I-95". The highway is six lanes (sometimes eight lanes) throughout the county. It was completed in 1958 and is often clogged with traffic particularly during morning and evening rush hours.

With the high cost of land along the Gold Coast, state lawmakers do not consider widening the highway to be fiscally feasible, although occasional stretches between entrances and nearby exits are now sometimes connected with a fourth "operational improvement" Archived March 17, 2006, at the Wayback Machine lane (for instance, westbound between the Exit 10 interchange in Darien and Exit 8 in Stamford).

The Merritt Parkway, also known as "The Merritt" or Connecticut Route 15, is a truck-free scenic parkway that runs through the county parallel and generally several miles north of Interstate 95. It begins at the New York state line, where it is the Hutchinson River Parkway, and terminates on the Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Bridge, where it becomes the Wilbur Cross Parkway at the New Haven county line.

The interchange between the Merritt Parkway and Route 7 in Norwalk was completed around the year 2000. The project was held up in a lawsuit won by preservationists concerned about the historic Merritt Parkway bridges. It is now exit 16/17A off the Merritt, and exit 15 off I-95. The parkway is a National Scenic Byway and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sports

Teams that previously called Fairfield County their home include the Connecticut Wildcats of USA Rugby League, the Danbury Whalers and the Danbury Titans of the Federal Hockey League, and the Bridgeport Bluefish in baseball's independent Atlantic League. In addition, being a part of metropolitan New York City, the major professional sports teams of New York State and New Jersey are local teams to Connecticut.

Communities

Note: Villages are named localities within towns, but have no separate corporate existence from the towns they are in.

Telephone area codes

All communities in the county are in the area code 203/area code 475 overlay except for the town of Sherman which is in area code 860 and part of the geographical New Milford telephone exchange.

Major media in the county

Countywide

Fairfield County Weekly

Daily newspapers covering the county

The Advocate of Stamford – Stamford edition, published by Hearst Connecticut Media., a subsidiary of Hearst Communications.

The Advocate of Stamford – Norwalk edition

Connecticut Post, owned by Hearst Connecticut Media, published in Bridgeport, covers Eastern Fairfield County and the Naugatuck Valley.

Greenwich Time, published by ., Hearst Connecticut Media, a subsidiary of Hearst Communications.

The Hour (registration required), controlled by a trust under the ultimate authority of Norwalk Probate Court.

The News-Times of Danbury, owned by Hearst Communications, Inc.

The Fairfield County Business Journal, published by Westfair Communications Inc.

The Newtown Bee published in Newtown.

The Darien Times published in Darien.

The Redding Sentinel published in Redding

The Easton Courier covers Easton.

El Sol News, countywide, based in Stamford.

El Canillita, distributed across southwestern Connecticut.

Pluma Libre, distributed across southwestern Connecticut.

Haitian Voice, published in English, Haitian Creole and French, based in Bridgeport.

Broadcast media and cable television

Fairfield County is in the New York City TV market and receives its TV stations. Some TV stations in the Hartford-New Haven are also available to Fairfield County viewers.

News 12 Connecticut has studios in Norwalk and covers Fairfield County as well as statewide news from Hartford.

Until 2022, WFSB from Hartford maintained a secondary feed for Fairfield County on their fourth subchannel which was carried by area cable providers; it mainly offered different advertising for local businesses, along with a different programming schedule that addressed syndicated programming which is claimed by New York City stations and would otherwise be blacked out on WFSB.

Colleges

Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport

University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport

University of Connecticut Stamford campus

Fairfield University in Fairfield

Norwalk Community College

St. Vincent's College in Bridgeport

Sacred Heart University in Fairfield

Western Connecticut State University in Danbury

Lincoln Technical Institute in Shelton

Norwalk Conservatory of the Arts in Norwalk

Culture and the arts

Fine arts

Franklin Street Works located in the downtown area of Stamford, Connecticut.

The Housatonic Museum of Art located at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Music: orchestras in the county

Greater Bridgeport Symphony. Founded in 1945, its concerts are held at Klein Memorial Auditorium in Bridgeport

Connecticut Grand Opera, a not-for-profit, professional opera company founded in 1993 and based in Stamford

Danbury Symphony Orchestra

Greenwich Symphony Orchestra

Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1939

Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra

Orchestra Lumos

Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra, a not-for-profit organization providing young musicians in the Fairfield County and Upper Westchester County areas with a classical symphony experience

Other music and arts events

The Barnum Festival has been held in the Spring in Bridgeport since 1949 to raise money for charity

The Connecticut Film Festival is held in the Spring in Danbury

The Fairfield County Freestyle Championships are generally held once a semester on the campus of Sacred Heart University. This event showcases the best freestyle dancers and rappers

The Gathering of the Vibes musical event has been held in Bridgeport's Seaside Park in 1999, 2000, 2007, and again in 2008

Musicals at Richter, held every summer in Danbury, is Connecticut's longest running outdoor theater

The Norwalk Oyster Festival is an annual fair in the city of Norwalk that features craft vendors and live music performances. The festival takes place on the first weekend after Labor Day in Veterans Park, near Long Island Sound