Early history Prior to European settlement the Fairfield area was home to several Indian tribes, most prominently the
Shawnee and the
Miami. The prehistoric
Hopewell and
Adena peoples constructed numerous
earthworks around the city, though most were unwittingly removed by early settlers in order to accommodate farm fields. The area that is now Fairfield was part of the original
Symmes Purchase. Also known as the
Miami Purchase, the region was acquired by Judge
John Cleves Symmes from the
Continental Congress in 1788 and included much of the land between the
Little Miami and
Great Miami rivers that became the present day counties of
Hamilton,
Butler, and
Warren. As the area was settled
hamlets developed to serve the surrounding countryside. Judge Symmes' great-nephew, Celadon Symmes, was the founder and first settler of Symmes Corner. Located at the intersection of Pleasant Avenue and Nilles Road it now serves as Fairfield's town center. The
hamlet of Fair Play was located on the east bank of the
Great Miami River. It was known for its mills, including Ohio's first paper mill. The community was destroyed by a flood in the late 1800s. Today the Miami Chapel Cemetery and the Fair Play School are some of the few remaining vestiges of the village. In the 1850s, the
Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway (today
CSX) was extended through Fairfield, fostering the development of several communities. The villages of Schencks Station and Stockton were established along the rail line. Schencks Station was located near the present-day intersection of Symmes Road and State Route 4 and was named for local landowner Aaron Schenck. Stockton could be found at the crossroads of State Route 4 and Seward Road. Originally known as Jones Station, the village provided area farms with necessities including a smithy, a general store, churches, and a school. In between the two communities was the village of Furmandale; also known as Schnapstown or Snaptown. Located at the current intersection of Winton and Nilles roads, the community took its name from Nathaniel Furman who operated a private school for girls within the community. A few miles to the east of these communities was the
Miami-Erie Canal which, prior to the arrival of the railroad, enabled early settlers to move their commodities to market.
Growth and incorporation Fairfield remained a quiet, primarily agricultural community until the mid-20th century. As the
City of Hamilton grew its industry expanded south into present day Fairfield.
Fisher Body, a manufacturing division of General Motors, established a plant at the northeast corner of State Route 4 and Symmes Road near the location of what was Schencks Station. During the same timeframe Fairfield started to experience residential growth, initially as a southern
suburb of Hamilton. In 1954 a group of citizens wishing to avoid
annexation into Hamilton organized an incorporation campaign. The initial petition was to create a
municipal corporation from
Fairfield Township in its entirety. A
referendum was held in April 1954 with incorporation failing by a vote of 1,219 to 831. A renewed effort focused on those
precincts that voted affirmatively. A second referendum was held in July 1954 with incorporation winning by a vote of 738 to 216. Fairfield was established as a
statutory village in 1955 with a
mayor-council form of government. The next 30 years represented a period of rapid growth for the community. By 1960 the village had exceeded a population of 5,000 and was reclassified as a statutory
city. The Interstate 275 beltway was constructed around
Cincinnati in the late 1970s. The new road provided easy access to Fairfield from the northern Cincinnati suburbs, thus providing an additional high quality transportation route. This, in turn, drove substantial commercial and residential investment in the community.
Growing pains and stabilization The city's form-of-government was a subject of debate almost from its inception. In 1961 a charter commission was formed to study the issue. After due consideration the commission recommended adoption of a
charter with the
council-administrator form of government, but the initiative was rejected by the voters. The question resurfaced in 1971, but did not progress beyond council conversations. In 1976 the issue gained momentum with form-of-government becoming an issue in council campaigns. In 1978 a charter commission was established and charged with framing a charter that would establish a council-administrator form-of-government. The city's second charter commission spent eight months researching the charters of various Ohio communities. A referendum was held on June 5, 1979, in which the issue was approved by a vote of 1,423 to 1,265. The council-administrator (later
council-manager) form went into effect on January 1, 1980. General Motors announced that the Hamilton-Fairfield
Chevrolet Pontiac Canada Group, known as the
Fisher Body plant, would be phased out in the first quarter of 1989. The effect of the plant closing was a loss of 2,500 jobs and 28 percent of the city's income tax revenue, amounting to $1.7 million. The city regained economic balance in the 1990s and experienced wide, diverse business development. With a population of 39,729 at the beginning of 1990, the city's explosive population growth had begun to slow, allowing it to focus on quality development of remaining residential and commercial areas. During this time, Fairfield updated and expanded its
sanitary sewers, established
detention basins for better
stormwater control, continued to address road improvements, and established a community center. In 1995, Fairfield withdraw from
Fairfield,
Union, and
Springfield townships via a
paper township called "Heritage Township", reusing a name from a previous failed attempt to incorporate
Symmes and
Deerfield townships as a city. ==Geography==