Fairchilds is located in south-central Fort Bend County. The center of Fairchilds is located 4 miles (6 km) northeast of Needville at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 361 (Fairchilds-Long Point Road) and Needville-Fairchilds Road. The Fairchild Farmer Co-op Gin and a few other businesses can be found near the intersection. Established in 1890 by three men of German descent, the community is named after a man who settled there around 1840.
FM 361 starts at Farm to Market Road 1994 in Long Point to the southeast of Fairchilds. It runs in a nearly straight line through the center of the village and continues to the northwest where it feeds into Texas State Highway 36 south of Pleak. The Needville-Fairchilds Road goes southwest from the center of Fairchilds toward Needville while the Fairchilds Road heads to the northeast. Most area roads conform to the diagonal road net. The Janda Country Estates and Fairchild Manor subdivisions are located to the northeast. Many local roads bear German names like Hein, Kneitz, Beyer, Roesler and Oberrender, or Czech names such as Chmelik, Janda, Zamanek, Psencik and Vacek.
Big Creek, a tributary of the Brazos River, flows through the area from Pleak to the southeast, passing along the northeast edge of Fairchilds. Nearer to the village is Fairchilds Creek which flows northeast, then southeast and joins Big Creek to the southeast.
The village is named after Philo Fairchilds, who settled there circa 1840. He built a house approximately one mile south of the present-day community. Theo Aderholz, August Bede and Charles Blohm founded the original settlement in 1890. A group of Mennonites from the north established a colony in 1896 by buying property on Big Creek. Approximately fifty families were soon working the land. They built roads, businesses, and schools, including separate ones for white and black children. After a malaria epidemic swept the area, the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 wrecked most of the town. Most of the Mennonites abandoned the site; only a few stayed. A post office served the village from 1912 to 1918, when it closed. In 1912, Louis Kneitz sold two acres to the city to serve as a dance hall; it was called Fairchild Hall and in 1999 the city tore it down, only leaving a cupola near the site. In 1914, the community had one general store. By 1936, there were four businesses and about 25 people living in Fairchilds. Between 1940 and 1953, the village’s population grew from 75 to 125. In the 1960s, there were 110 people in the community. In 1990, Fairchilds had 150 inhabitants, with a cafe and three stores selling tires, feed and general goods.