A history of Fairfield,
since 1910
Postcards, papers and photographs of Fairfield from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗This city was founded in 1910 in which the featured speaker at the dedication ceremony was former President Theodore Roosevelt. It was originally named Corey, after the President of U.S. Steel Corporation. Corey departed U.S. Steel under a cloud of scandal, and the town's name was later changed to the city in which his successor as president lived, Fairfield, Connecticut. It was planned as a model city by the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company to house workers in their new Fairfield Works plant, now owned by U.S. Steel, similar to its northeastern city of Ensley.
In May 2020, the city entered bankruptcy. Jefferson County had declared bankruptcy in 2011.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Fairfield’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District …, 1880: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Fairfield
See all 24 →
Fairfield, decade by decade
1920s
CommonsHome of C.L. Eargle1937
LOCHome of C.L. Eargle. Fairfield, Alabama. The Eargle family …1937
LOCHome of Noah Johnson of Fairfield, Alabama. The Johnson fam…1937
LOCHome of C.L. Eargle. Fairfield, Alabama. This house is bein…1937
LOCThe Eargle Family moving their household goods out of their…1937
LOCUntitled photo, possibly related to: The Eargle Family movi…1937
LOCUntitled photo, possibly related to: The Eargle Family movi…1937
LOCMrs. Eargle of Fairfield airing her bedding preparatory to …1937
LOCUntitled photo, possibly related to: The Eargle Family movi…1937
LOCUntitled photo, possibly related to: The Eargle Family movi…19371990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as 1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Alabama - Jefferson County - Fairfield - ED 37-134 - ED 37-143 (1880) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (3) and the Library of Congress (9). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.