Prior to colonisation, the Cabrogal clan of the Dharug people inhabited the area around what is now known as Fairfield East.

[3] In 1876, Orchardleigh was subdivided for housing and when Mark Lodge followed suit in 1885, the area completed its transformation from farmland to suburbia.

[citation needed] The name Mark Lodge was still used in the area for some time after although by the 1950s it had officially become Fairfield East.

Located in the adjacent suburb of Villawood, Bunnings Warehouse in Woodville Road, a gymnasium, a McDonald's outlet and an auto repair are proximate to the eastern part of Fairfield East.

The Horsley Drive is one of the main arterial roads that runs through the western boundary of the suburb.