I always love my Hyde County visits. Fairfield is likely the least known village in the county. It also has some of the best architecture in the northeast. The text below is from the 1983 application for the Fairfield Historic District to the National Historic Register This visit was June 9, 2023.
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All Saints Episcopal Church
“This charming diminutive church in the vernacular Gothic Revival style with its pointed windows is characteristic of rural Episcopal churches and is notable for its completely unaltered exterior. It [previously had] wooden roof shingles in alternating split and scalloped bands. The narrow vestibule topped by the belfry and octagonal steeple contributes to the overall verticality. Although the Fairfield parish was organized in 1868, it was not until 1876 that it invited a minister to hold services, conducted first in the Fairfield Academy and then at other unspecified sites. Construction of a permanent building occurred between 1885 and 1890 on land that Laura Blackwell donated to the Church Trustees with the stipulation that it not contain a cemetery.”
Fairfield Methodist Church and Parsonage
“This outstanding example of Gothic Revival cum Italianate architecture is the most elaborate and finely detailed church in Hyde County. A three-tiered belfry surmounted by a steeple rises from the front of the narthex projecting from the traditional, gable-front form of the sanctuary; a three-sided apse with a bell-cast hip roof extends from the rear gabled facade. Carefully detailed trim lends the building special character by articulating its every part. A molded base defines the perimeter of the structure which is set on brick piers with lattice infill. A molded pilaster with a capital surmounted by a sawn bracket supporting the eaves marks every corner of the building as well as the divisions of the main block. The ornamentation is richest on the main facade and becomes more concentrated with the increased height of the belfry; turned, elongated finials accentuate the vertical orientation of the tower which terminates on the molded steeple topped with a ball. Entrance porches with bell-cast hip roofs and sawn ornament fill the recesses on either side of the base of the tower. Molded pilasters supporting a pointed arch defined by curved dentils and filled with .carved sunburst motif surround the doors. All of the tall, narrow windows terminate in pointed arches; a group of lancet windows marks the main facade. The stained glass windows consist of panes of variously colored glass around the edges and oblong central panes decorated with a stenciled pattern. A cove ceiling broken by a barrel vault with carved ornamental bracing defines the tall space of the two-aisle plan interior. Plastered walls rise above beaded wainscoting and dark stained trim mark all edges. Curved dentils decorate molded door and window surrounds. A turned baluster rail partitions the raised altar enclosed the half-domed apse. Winding stairs lead to the balcony supported by fluted posts.
“The one-story parsonage next door also is decorated with corner boards, although they are not molded. Scroll brackets appear in the level eaves While ornamental bracing and scalloped bargeboard with pendentives emulating icicles (identical to the trim of the nearby David Hezekiah Carter House) decorate the four gables.”
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