Fairfield, UT

The 2020 census counted 160 people in Fairfield, a Utah County town on State Route 73 south of Cedar Fort and west of Utah Lake. The first settlers arrived in 1855, when the place was called Big Spring or South Fort; the town later took its name from pioneer Amos Fielding. That small agricultural settlement changed scale in 1858, when the U.S. Army established Camp Floyd nearby during the Utah War. About 3,500 troops arrived in 1858, and Camp Floyd and Fairfield grew to more than 7,000 people, briefly making the settlement the third-largest community in the Utah Territory.

The military presence brought a dense frontier town: the army built hundreds of buildings, hospitals, bowling alleys, a circus, playhouses, and a Masonic lodge. When the Civil War began, the troops left and the settlement contracted. The 1858 Stagecoach Inn survived that turn. John Carson built it as a two-story hotel; it became the first stop south of Salt Lake City on the Overland Stage Route, a Pony Express stop, and for a time a telegraph station. The inn keeps those transportation links visible in Fairfield today.

Camp Floyd State Park now holds the commissary museum, Stagecoach Inn, cemetery, and restored Fairfield District Schoolhouse. The schoolhouse was built in 1898 and used until students were bused away in 1937; the park now uses it for programs and special events. The 2026 calendar includes a Pioneer Celebration, Military Appreciation Day, and Fairfield/Camp Floyd history programs. A large construction landfill is also part of the town's current map. The restored schoolhouse is available for school groups and special-event viewing. The park's posted hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The local scoop is a tiny Utah town where a former military settlement, a Pony Express route, a one-room schoolhouse, and working infrastructure share the same State Route 73 address.