About Fairfield, CA

Fairfield, California is conveniently located at the crossroads of three major routes that connect the Napa Valley in California, the California Delta, the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, and San Francisco. Fairfield is also located next to the I-80 corridor, about halfway between Sacramento and San Francisco. It can be easily accessed from the California Delta as well as the eastern San Francisco Bay Area from I-680, to the Napa Valley from the northwest and the southeast from SR-12.

Fairfield is located in Solano County and is one of seven communities that has history that dates back thousands of years. In the green Valley, artifacts have been located from stone-age people, which date back to 2000 B.C. E. Solano County was the home of the Patwin Indian tribe, when the Spaniards first arrived. Some of their settlements have survived phonetically in such modern places as Putah, Ulatis, Soscol, and Suisun.

In 1859 some four years following the California Bear Flag the boundaries of Solano County were determined by the first elected legislature of the California territory, which made Solano County one of the original 27 counties. Indirectly, the county received its name indirectly from a Franciscan missionary, named Father Francisco Solano, whose name was provided in baptism to the chief of one of the Indian tribes of the area. Prior to having the name Solano, the Indian chief was also known as Sem Yeto, which translates into Fierce Hand or Brave. The county was named after Chief Solano as requested by General Vallejo. Chief Solano ruled over most of the tribes and land, at one time, between the Sacramento River and the Petaluma Creek.

Some seven communities were incorporated into cities out of the 12 townships that were established in the early days of the history of the county. These cities include Fairfield, Rio Vista, Vacaville, Dixon, Suisun City, Vallejo, and Benicia. Fairfield is located at the middle of these cities, on the plane between the Suisun Marsh and the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are surrounded by beautiful vistas as well as lush valleys.

In 1856, the captain of a clipper ship named Robert Waterman established the settlement of Fairfield. The settlement received its name after the hometown of Mr. Waterman, which was Fairfield, Connecticut. Mr. Waterman established the settlement after several failed attempts to develop a port city at the close by Cordelia/Bridgeport. In 1858, the residents of Fairfield ratified a proposal to relocate county seat to Fairfield from Benicia, and Mr. Waterman, donated some 16 acres of land for new county buildings, as he promised he would. The year 1903 brought the official incorporation of Fairfield as a city.

During its earlier years, Fairfield was more isolated when it didn’t have easy access to larger market communities or a port. This was in spite its political prominence as the county seat. Well into the 1900’s, its rival and neighbor, Suisun City overshadowed the community.

However, Fairfield had considerably more to offer than simply its government center. In 1903, after its incorporation as a city, a bond measure was passed, which created much needed improvements, and, in 1915, with the rerouting of the Lincoln Highway through the community, Texas Street was finally established as a very busy hub. Many other businesses were developed in Fairfield, over the years. This drew numerous new residents. Fairfield was surrounded by valleys, and as such, originally didn’t have many residents.

These days, Fairfield is continually growing primarily as the result of the close by Travis Air Force Base which was established in 1942 and located just east of Fairfield as well as the I-80 corridor. Travis Air Force Base provides explosive growth in the local economy. Fairfield is the home to a diverse commercial and industrial sector, and employs workers in many different professional skills. Some of the largest employers include the Jelly Belly Candy Company, the Solano Town Center, the County of Solano, and the Travis Air Force Base.