The indigenous village of Sasqua, inhabited by
Quiripi language speakers, was located in the area. Members of that community later formed the
Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation. The earliest recorded event in Southport's history was "The Great Swamp Fight" or "
Fairfield Swamp Fight" of July 1637 (not to be confused with the later
Great Swamp Fight of
King Philip's War), an episode of the
Pequot War in which English colonial forces led by
John Mason and
Roger Ludlow vanquished a band of 80 to 100
Pequot Indians who had earlier fled from their home territory in the
Mystic area and taken refuge with approximately 200
Sasqua Indians who inhabited the area that is now Fairfield. The exact location of the battle is unclear, but it is known to have been in the vicinity of Southport. In 1639, Ludlow established the town of Fairfield on the Pequot land known as Unquowa. Colonial deeds of land were signed with the Sasqua in the 1670s. In the eighteenth century, Mill River village, a part of Fairfield, was a small hamlet of a few houses and a wharf at the mouth of Fairfield's Mill River. Farm products from the surrounding area were shipped from Mill River's small harbor to ports in New York and beyond. By 1831 the village had changed its name to Southport and was a bustling commercial area with warehouses, churches, schools, stores and elegant houses. Before 1853, Southport had its own local government as a
borough within the town of Fairfield. keeping the harbor profitable until the end of the century. The federal government supported repairs to the harbor in the 1840s. During the 1840s, the greatest agricultural innovation in Fairfield became the cultivation of onions. From 1840 to 1890, 200,000 tons yearly were shipped out of Southport. Designed to be easily stored, during the Civil War sales spiked, its high vitamin C content prized by the U.S. Navy to prevent scurvy. The U.S. Army prized it to treat gunshot wounds, at one point to the extent that General Ulysses S. Grant refused to move his troops if they were not supplied with onions. In the 1890s, 100,000 barrels of locally grown onions, carrots, potatoes, and other goods were shipped annually from Southport harbor.
Local Sea Captains During the peak of the shipping era, Southport had four shipyards in old Mill River, and many of Southport's first families built their wealth in the lucrative shipping trade that grew in response to local farmers wanting a more convenient port than Bridgeport and Norwalk Harbors. Numerous area parks and streets are named after prominent sea captains, including Bulkley Avenue, Sherwood Island State Park, and Sturges Highway. Capt. Zalman Wakeman owned Wakeman Farms, which is still operating today.
Preservation Today, much of the old village area is part of a town
historic district, first established in 1967, where buildings from three centuries are protected for future generations. The boundaries of the town historic district are the
railroad on the north; the Mill River and Southport Harbor on the south; Church Street; and Old South Road and Rose Hill Road on the west and east, respectively, including all properties on both sides of the roads. Strict historic
zoning regulations apply in the district and have been upheld by the
Connecticut Supreme Court. The Southport Historic District is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. ==Architecture==