City celebrates 175 years

Plans are underway for events celebrating the 175th anniversary of the establishment of Jefferson County and Fairfield as the county seat.

The main celebratory event is being planned for the July Fourth weekend, said Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy, who is a member of the steering committee.

?It?s an art walk weekend, so we?ll begin with an art walk with a historic theme of Fairfield,? he said.

The Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk is held from about 6-10 p.m. the first Friday of each month on and near the Fairfield square.

The anniversary celebration will continue July 5 with a parade, followed by an afternoon of activities centered around the Bonnifield Log House in Old Settlers Park and the adjacent Waterworks Park.

The 175-year-old Bonnifield Log House is known as the oldest still-standing dwelling of any white man in Iowa, but the tiny house is probably better known as the place where Fairfield was named.

The Bonnifield Log House was built in 1838 by the Rhodam and Nancy Bonnifield family to replace the makeshift cabin built the previous year when the family settled in what was to become Jefferson County.

According to Fairfield history as recorded by Susan Fulton Welty in her book ?A Fair Field,? in March 1839, when city commissioners were visiting the Bonnifields, they described the ?pretty prairie? of the new town, and Mrs. Bonnifield suggested the name Fairfield.

Welty wrote when Winfield Fordyce bought the Bonnifield land years later, he offered the long-deserted cabin to the Old Settlers Association, and the Bonnifields' son, West Benson Bonnifield, donated $500 to help relocate it.

Welty?s book says the association bought 10 acres of land on the north edge of Fairfield in January 1908. Seven months later, volunteers dismantled the house marking each log so it could be re-erected correctly in the new Old Settlers Park, about 8 miles west from its original location.

Today, the structure remains a visible link to Fairfield?s history and preservation efforts continue.

Malloy said the main celebration will end with a fireworks display ?much larger than the regular fireworks display? at Waterworks Park.

Although the celebration July 4-5 will be the main event, Malloy said the steering committee members are working to come up with other themed activities to be held throughout 2014. He said those could include an essay contest, special art exhibits, contests and more.

?We?ll spread things out and have fun, but we want to make the July Fourth weekend really special,? Malloy said.

According to Malloy, the steering committee is meeting on a weekly basis and more information and details will be announced.

In addition to Malloy, the steering committee includes the Fairfield Iowa Convention and Visitors Bureau, Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce, Fairfield Economic Development Association, Fairfield Community School District, Carnegie Historical Museum, Fairfield Art Association and Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk.

?We hope to engage the service organizations as well,? said Malloy.