In 1857 they established an arrowroot farm called Fairfield in the area, providing the name for the suburb.

[3] The Fairfield Baptist Church opened for worship on 24 December (Christmas Eve) 1865 followed by a celebratory luncheon on 26 December (Boxing Day) 1865 as a branch of the Vulture Street Baptist Church.

[12][13][14] In 1914 the Railside Estate was a subdivision of 28 residential lots for the land bounded by Bell Lane (now Bledisloe Street) to the north, the South Coast railway line to the east, Venner Road to the south, and Cross Street to the west.

69.2% of people living in Fairfield were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 69.8%; the next most common countries of birth were England 3.2%, New Zealand 3.1%, Malaysia 1.5%, China 1.2%, Vietnam 1.2%.

77.3% of people spoke only English at home; the next most popular languages were 2.4% Mandarin, 2% Greek, 1.7% Vietnamese, 1.7% Spanish, 0.9% German.

The Brisbane City Council operates a public library at Fairfield Gardens.

The main bus service is the 196, which runs every 15 minutes during the day and commences at Fairfield Gardens.