1711 – 1736
Rendering by unknown artist
Loan from Green’s Farms Church

In 1708, a group of Fairfield residents commonly known as the Bankside farmers petitioned the Connecticut Colonial Legislature for permission to leave Fairfield Parish. They wanted to establish a parish closer to their homes in the area between the current Weston center to the north, Long Island Sound as the southern border, the Saugatuck River to the west, and today’s West Parish Road as the eastern boundary. After a three-year debate ensued, the Legislature granted their request in 1711.

The first parish meeting was held on June 12, 1711, and Reverend Daniel Chapman was chosen as minister, with the promise of 70 pounds annual salary and one year’s worth of firewood. The modest meetinghouse, pictured here, took nine years to build and was 35 square feet wide and 16 feet high, with 4 ½ foot wide clapboard siding. It stood on the common at Green’s Farms Road and Morningside Drive, commemorated today by the Machamux boulder.