Historic Fairfield, CT – Pic of the Week

A couple of weeks ago, I made a trip to Fairfield, Connecticut, to visit family. While there, I took the opportunity to stop by one of Fairfield’s historic districts. Fairfield is a quintessential New England coastal town, and some of its buildings date back to before the American Revolution, while many more date to just after the revolution and into the early 1800s. In particular, I was interested in visiting the Old Town Hall, built in 1794. Originally, this building was a courthouse and it is still in use today. Next to the Old Town Hall is Samuel Penfield’s Sun Tavern, built in 1783. Both buildings replaced ones that were burnt down by the British in 1779 during Tyron’s Raid. Like many buildings on the East Coast that date back to this time period, the Sun Tavern’s biggest claim to fame is that George Washington spent the night there (while visiting New England during his presidency). Other buildings near the Old Town Hall include the Old Academy, which was built in 1804, and the Burr Homestead, built in 1732, and inhabited by Aaron Burr’s uncle, Thaddeus Burr, during the American Revolution.

We tend to refer to this style of architecture as colonial, but that is a bit of a misnomer, as colonial architectural styles in the U.S. varied depending on location. Better terms for this type of architecture would be the Federal or Georgian style.

Is there a historic place within the U.S. that you want to visit this summer? Let us know in the comments.

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