Fairfield Museum and History Center

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (May 2008)

Fairfield Museum and History Center front exterior

Fairfield Museum and History Center is a museum and library focusing on the history of Fairfield, Connecticut and the greater Fairfield area. The museum opened on September 16, 2007 and is located at 370 Beach Road, behind the Fairfield Town Green.

The museum's collections included furniture and household items, clocks, costumes and textiles, art, tools, military items, dolls and toys, and architectural fragments.

Landscape of Change is the museum's inaugural exhibition that focuses on Fairfield's 375 year history. Highlights include the British invasion in 1779, colonial and Native American life, area maritime and agriculture commerce, slavery, the railroad, schools and education, and famous Fairfield landmarks. ^[1]

The library's collections include manuscripts, maps, photographs, church books, land records, oral histories and other resources relating to Fairfield, as well as general books on genealogy, local and regional history, general and art history.

The library's reading room looks out on Fairfield Town Green, with views of Sun Tavern and Victorian Cottage and Barn (see below).

Patriots & Loyalists exhibit

Beaches of Fairfield exhibit

[edit] Historic properties

The town of Fairfield owns several historic properties that are managed by the museum.

Ogden House (1520 Bronson Road) – An 18th Century saltbox house with period furnishings. The Museum owns and manages this farmhouse, which is open from 1 - 4:00 pm on Sundays from June to September.

Bronson Windmill (2963 Bronson Road) – An 1893 windmill built to supply water to Frederic Bronson’s estate and farm, presently the location of Fairfield Country Day School.

Burr Homestead (739 Old Post Road) – An 18th Century 10-room mansion that is rented out for community and private events.

Sun Tavern (One Town Hall Green)– A 1780 tavern that was the site of a visit from President George Washington.

Victorian Cottage and Barn (Two and Three Town Hall Green) – Two “Carpenter Gothic” buildings that served as a gardener’s quarters and tool storage.

Powder House (230 Unquowa Road) – An 1814 stone structure built to store ammunition in case of British attacks.