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Fire department is formed
1898
According to an early Fairfield official, a then-Fairfield Twp. resident Adam Braun organized a volunteer fire department in 1898. The men gathered at Braun’s home to discuss the most efficient methods of fighting fires.
At the time, their equipment consisted of a two-wheel cart that carried a 50-gallon tank for water, buckets, hand pump and 50 feet of garden hose. The volunteers learned on the fly, gaining knowledge about fires as they occurred.
By 1945, the first piece of equipment was purchased for the area: a Model A Ford that was converted into a fire truck. Volunteers in the 1940s received their training from the Hamilton Fire Department. The original fire house — beyond the home of Braun — was located on Pleasant Avenue. Since then, Company 1 (Nilles Road), Company 2 (Ohio 4) and Company 3 (Winton Road) have been built as Fairfield’s fire stations.
Source: “Fairfield, Ohio,� by Esther Benzing
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Official seal of Fairfield adopted
Dec. 9, 1963
The official seal of the city of Fairfield was accepted by City Council in December 1963.
Designed by local artist, Calvin T. Hershner Jr., the seal is meant to show the four components on which Fairfield has built it foundation: industry, future growth, government and knowledge.
According to the city’s Web site, “The interdependence of each of the parts on the others is symbolized by the gears encompassing each component, and meshing with the others. The rotation of one causes equal rotation of all, for an integrated, well-balanced community.� In addition, the phrase, “City of Opportunity,� was coined during the same time, and stands as Fairfield’s motto. The seal was selected by a panel of judges as the best seal of a group of 40 top entries.
Source: Fairfield, Ohio, by Esther Benzing and the city of Fairfield Web site.
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Groundbreaking of Ohio 4
July 10, 1917
About 50 people attended the groundbreaking of the Butler County section of Ohio 4 in 1917. Members of the Butler County Good Roads Committee, county and city officials broke ground near the current section of Winton Road and Ohio 4 on July 10, 1917.
At that time there were just 3,300 registered vehicles in the county. The road was, at one time, a dirt path through a dense southern Ohio forest, used by the U.S. Army’s northern marches into Fort Hamilton in the late 18th century. The 5.4-mile stretch of Ohio 4 that runs through Fairfield now sees more than 45,000 cars every day.
Source: Fairfield Echo, Sept. 9-15, “Ohio 4: An amazing history.�
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Education begins in Fairfield
August 19, 1916
A one-acre parcel of land was purchased in August 1916 at the corner of River and Nilles roads for what would become part of the local school district until 1929. The Symmes Corner School — which housed students in one room from ages six through 16, teaching seven grades — existed until the Fairfield City School District was consolidated in 1929.
There were, however, earlier records of formalized schooling, the first of which occurred in 1825 in a resident’s home. The original school located in southern Butler County in what would become Fairfield was the Rieser School, built sometime before 1869 on what is now known as Resor Road. In the early 1900s, the district — then called Fairfield School District No. 8 — consisted of three buildings until 1929: Fairplay, Symmes Corner and Rieser schools. The Fairfield City School District is now comprised of 10 buildings and a central office and is responsible for educating nearly 10,000 students each year.
Source: Fairfield, Ohio, by Esther Benzing
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Father’s Day floods ravage Fairfield
June 14-16, 2003
After several consecutive days of rain the Southwest Ohio, Fairfield’s creeks overran their banks during Father’s Day weekend 2003. More than 200 residents and local businesses were affected by high waters, most of which was caused by a rushing Pleasant Run Creek and ground that was already heavily saturated.
The event sparked controversy among many in the community, who banned together to form the Fairfield Flood Victims group, and helped to urge Fairfield Council to perform a buyout program for homes along Crystal and Banker drives. With help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the city received $3.4 million in grants to buy 23 homes in Fairfield’s low-lying areas. As of March 2005, most of the homes had been purchased.
In 2005, several of the homes were razed, leaving grassy openings covered in straw. Because the area was declared a flood plain in 1979 by state and federal agencies — years after the subdivision was erected — building will no longer be permitted in the area, city officials said. The portion of Crystal and Banker drives is expected to be used as a park, although plans have yet to be finalized.
Source: Cox News Service, city of Fairfield
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Fairfield resident makes Reds history
April 4, 1941
Two players in Cincinnati Reds history are responsible for hitting more than one home run on Opening Day. Former Fairfield resident Frank McCormick — who lived along what would later be named Pleasant Avenue for 26 seasons — accomplished the task on the Reds’ Opening Day in 1941.
This April, Reds outfielder Adam Dunn sent two pitches over the wall of Great American Ball Park. His second homer happened in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game against the New York Mets. The Reds’ next batter, third baseman Joe Randa, hit a walk-off home run to win the game.
Source: Fairfield, Ohio, by Esther Benzing, Marty Brenneman, 700WLW Cincinnati
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Shooting at Prestige Display and Packaging
Sept. 28, 2000
Fairfield resident Sophal Prom, 35 at the time, showed up at her place of employment in late September and emptied nearly two magazines of ammunition into her supervisor after the two allegedly got into an argument. Prom later admitted to killing Darlene Adams, 42, of Newport at Prestige Display & Packaging in Fairfield. The woman said she didn’t realize she had shot Adams 17 times. Adams was later pronounced dead at the scene when police arrived to find Prom holding a .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun.
Prom had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to aggravated murder during the fall of 2000, and had faced 23 years to life in prison. She later pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of aggravated murder. She was sentenced in December 2001 to spend 18 years to life in prison. She was resentenced in 2004 after a court error to the same sentence.
Source: Fairfield Echo, Cox News Service
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New city councilman admits vote fraud
July 17, 2000
After months of being prompted by city officials to step down, Fairfield 1st Ward councilman Jon Saylor resigns from the post he had supposedly won earlier that year.
Saylor, 27, who apparently won Fairfield’s 1st Ward seat 820-678 in November 1999, was accused by the Butler County Board of Elections of voter fraud, tampering with ballots, processing false election records and other crimes. In all, Saylor was indicted on 68 counts of voter fraud, charges which he said were untrue and politically motivated.
The Fairfield resident later pleaded guilty to 58 counts of voter fraud and was sentenced to spend two years in prison and pay $22,500 in fines. Following Saylor’s hearing, a Butler County judge sentenced Saylor’s friend, Cynthia McCloud, to 80 hours of community service, a $2,500 fine and five years of probation for her involvement with Saylor’s election.
After July 17, Mike Snyder, the man Saylor had beaten in the November 1999 election, was appointed to represent the city’s 1st Ward, a seat he still holds today.
Source: The Fairfield Echo
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