Fairfield Historic District

The story

Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com

The Fairfield Historic District is a historic district in Fairfield, Adams County, covering 169.5 acres along Landis Drive, Steelman Street and Wortz Drive at the borough's northwest edge. It was listed in the National Register in 2000. Its buildings date from 1797, the 1830s and the 1920s, in Greek Revival, Italianate, Late Victorian/Gothic and Gothic styles.

Why it's listed

It was listed under criteria A and C and under criteria consideration B, with local-level significance in architecture and military history. The nomination gives its period of significance as 1797 to 1950, reflecting the district's earliest known construction date of 1797. Its military significance centers on 1863, the year of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Physical character

District buildings have brick, stone, weatherboard and aluminum walls, roofs of metal, asphalt and slate, and stone foundations. A stone and frame barn complex stands among them, and a frame garage was added in the 1920s.

Historical context

John Miller bought a 247-acre tract in 1755 and began selling town lots by 1784. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry raided Fairfield in 1862, and in 1863 Confederate forces occupied the town and made it a collection point during their retreat from the Battle of Gettysburg. Union cavalry skirmished, involving the 6th U.S. Cavalry, Johnson's Division and the U.S. Sixth Army Corps, while the Musselman farm served as a Confederate field hospital and the homes of Mrs. Blythe and R.C. Swope sheltered wounded Union officers.