Fairmont is a city in and county seat of Marion County,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, United States. The population was 18,313 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Fairmont Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Marion County, and is a principal city of the larger Morgantown–Fairmont Combined Statistical Area.

History

Beginnings

In the eighteenth century, the earliest development of Fairmont consisted of

subsistence farming Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...

settlements. In 1789, Boaz Fleming, a Revolutionary War

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

, migrated to western

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and purchased a 254-acre farm from Jonathan Bozarth. In 1808, Fleming made his annual trek to Clarksburg to pay his brother's Harrison County taxes. While in Clarksburg, Fleming attended a social gathering that included his cousin

Dolley Madison Dolley Todd Madison (née Payne; May 20, 1768 – July 12, 1849) was the wife of James Madison, the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. She was noted for holding Washington social functions in which she invited members of bo ...

, wife of President

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

. Fleming complained to Mrs. Madison about having to travel over a hundred miles each year from his home to pay his Monongalia County taxes and his brother's Harrison County taxes. Mrs. Madison supposedly suggested that he create his own county to save him all that travel. In 1814, Fleming circulated a petition to do precisely that, naming the proposed county Madison County in honor of Dolley and James Madison. Milford, now Rivesville, was the only town within the borders of Fleming's proposed county, so Fleming decided to make Milford the seat of Madison County. However, Milford's citizens preferred to remain part of Monongalia County. As a result, Fleming's petition failed to gain sufficient support to be presented to the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

. Fleming then focused on creating a new town near his farm, which was located on the west side of the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in North Cen ...

. In 1817, Fleming's sons—William and David—began to clear land on a part of their father's farm to make way for the new town; this part of the farm would later become downtown Fairmont.

1819 to present

In 1819, Fairmont was founded as Middletown, Virginia. It was named Middletown because either it was in the middle of two cities, Morgantown and Clarksburg, or Fleming's first wife, Elizabeth Hutchinson, was originally from Middletown,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

. That same year, a road was built between those two cities. Fleming's new town was about halfway between the two cities, which made it a resting point. The town was incorporated as Middletown on January 19, 1820. The current borders of Marion County were established in 1842, and Middletown was named the county's seat. At that time, William Haymond Jr. suggested that the town's name be changed to Fairmont because the town had a beautiful overlook of the Monongahela River, giving it a "fair mount". The Borough of Fairmont was incorporated in 1843 by the Virginia General Assembly. In 1863, during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Confederate General William E. Jones and his men raided Fairmont and cut the Union's supply lines to take food and horses. They also burned the books from the personal library of Governor

Francis Harrison Pierpont Francis Harrison Pierpont (January 25, 1814March 24, 1899), called the "Father of West Virginia," was an American lawyer and politician who achieved prominence during the American Civil War. During the conflict's first two years, Pierpont served ...

. Many of the first buildings in Fairmont were poorly constructed. By 1852—little more than 30 years after the city's founding—a large portion of Fairmont was reported to be run-down and dilapidated. Reports from 1873 indicate that these buildings had continued to fall into disrepair. On April 2, 1876, a fire destroyed a large portion of the city's

business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

, as well as many houses in the area. The continuing dilapidation of the city's buildings may have contributed to the fire; the large number of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

mines under Fairmont may have also played a role. Between 1891 and 1901—in a span of only 10 years—Fairmont's population had increased from 1,000 to 7,000. The City of Fairmont was chartered in 1899; as a result of the charter, the city absorbed the surrounding towns of Palatine (also known as East Side) and West Fairmont. By 1901, Fairmont was an important commercial center. Many

railroads Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

—including the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

on its way from

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

to Wheeling—traveled through the city. By this time, Fairmont was also the leading center of the coal trade industry in northern West Virginia, employing some 10,000 workers in the coal mines around Fairmont. By 1978, an issue with Fairmont's land experiencing

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope move ...

appeared because the remains of Fairmont's 19th-century

coal mines Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

were crumbling. As a result, over the following years, the federal government along with other institutions spent money to fix the subsidence issue to prevent damage to the town.

Geography

The

Tygart Valley River The Tygart Valley River — also known as the Tygart River — is a principal tributary of the Monongahela River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed Aug ...

and the

West Fork River The West Fork River is a principal tributary of the Monongahela River, long, in north-central West Virginia, United States. Via the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 881 square ...

join in Fairmont to form the

. Buffalo Creek, a tributary of the Monongahela River, flows through the northern part of the city. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Climate

Fairmont has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dfa'') with very warm summers and freezing winters. However, it is not uncommon during winter for warm air from the Gulf of Mexico to raise temperatures above , which occurs on average six times each January and over eight in December and February. In contrast, when very cold air from Canada moves into West Virginia temperatures can go below , which can be expected during 3.2 mornings each winter, but which occurred on twelve mornings during the extremely cold January 1977, whose average temperature of was the coldest month on record by . Despite the abundant precipitation throughout the year, the relative dryness of cold air means that most precipitation is rain even during the winter: the most snowfall in a month being is November 1950, and the most in a season between July 1950 and June 1951. The least snow in a season has been between July 1918 and June 1919, whilst the wettest calendar year has been 1956 with and the driest – as with all of West Virginia – 1930 with . The hottest temperature has been on August 8, 1918, and the coldest on January 21, 1994.

Demographics

2010 census

At the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, there were 18,704 people, 8,133 households and 4,424 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was . There were 9,200 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 88.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 7.5%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.2% Native American, 0.6%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.4% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 2.3% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 1.4% of the population. There were 8,133 households, of which 24.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 45.6% were non-families. 36.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.83. The median age was 36.8 years. 18% of residents were under the age of 18; 16.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25% were from 25 to 44; 24.4% were from 45 to 64; and 16.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.2% male and 51.8% female.

2000 census

At the 2000 census, there were 19,097 people, 8,447 households and 4,671 families living in the city. The

was 2,438.5 per square mile (941.7/km²). There were 9,755 housing units at an average density of 1,245.6 per square mile (481.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.16%

, 7.26%

, 0.26% Native American, 0.61%

, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 0.20% from

, and 1.49% from two or more races.

of any race were 0.82% of the population. There were 8,447 households, of which 21.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.2% were

living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.7% were non-families. 36.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.83. 18.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 14.9% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 20.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.3 males. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...

was $25,628 and the median family income was $37,126. Males had a median income of $27,944 and females $20,401. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

was $16,062. About 12.6% of families and 20.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 22.0% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

Fairmont is home to Country Club Bakery, which is where the

pepperoni roll The pepperoni roll is an Italian-American cuisine, Italian-American stuffed bread roll. Originally conceived of as a coal miner's lunch, it is popular in West Virginia and some nearby regions of the Appalachian Mountains such as Eastern Kentucky ...

snack A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. Traditionally, snacks are p ...

originates. The bakery continues to serve the roll along with their various other baked goods. Fairmont has considered itself to be the "pepperoni roll capital of the world".

Landmarks

* Fairmont's

National White Collar Crime Center The National White Collar Crime Center, also known as NW3C, is a congressionally funded non-profit corporation which trains state and local law enforcement agencies to combat emerging economic and cyber crime problems. The NW3C provides the general ...

provides nationwide support to law enforcement agencies involved in prevention, investigation, and prosecution of economic and high-tech crime. *

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Independent Verification and Validation Facility NASA's Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) Program was established in 1993 as part of an agency-wide strategy to provide the highest achievable levels of safety and cost-effectiveness for mission critical software. NASA's IV&V Program wa ...

, governed by the

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC empl ...

, houses more than 150 full-time employees and more than 20 in-house partners and contractors. *

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

Robert H. Mollohan Research Facility, which receives weather data from the

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), operated by the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service division, supports weather for ...

and houses more than 100 full-time employees. * The Jacobs-Hutchinson Block building, also known as Peoples' National Bank and Friendly Furniture Store

Government

Fairmont has a Council-manager government, whereby the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

serves as chairman of the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

and the

city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief execu ...

takes care of the day-to-day operations. The current mayor is Thomas Mainella and the current city manager is Valerie Means.

City council

Josh Rice, District 1 Term expires: 2022 Anne Bolyard, District 2 Term expires: 2024 Karl "David" Kennedy, District 3 Term expires: 2022 Richard "Rick" Garcia, District 4 Term expires: 2024 Barry Bledsoe, District 5 Term expires: 2022 Gia Deasy, District 6 Term expires: 2024 Nick "Nicky" Cinalli, District 7 Term expires: 2022 Thomas Mainella, Mayor, District 8 Term expires: 2022 Donna Blood, Deputy Mayor, District 9 Term expires: 2022

Past mayors

* William Elza Arnett, 1906–1908 *

Matthew M. Neely Matthew Mansfield Neely (November 9, 1874January 18, 1958) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician from West Virginia. He is the only West Virginian to serve in both houses of the United States Congress and as the ...

, 1908–1910 * William Conaway * A.C. West * Fred T. Wilson, 1935–1940 * Fred T. Wilson, 1944–1945 * Albert F. Robertson, 1947–1950 * James H. Hanway, 1951–1955 * Wiliam G. Meyer, 1959 * Forrest L. Springer * Albert F. Robinson * J. Richard Davis * William M. Hawkins * James L. Turner, 1979 * Robert K. Powell, 1980 * James L. Turner, 1981 * Robert K. Powell, 1982 * Gregory T. Hinton, 1982-1984 * Robert M. Drummond Sr., 1984–1985 * Carl J. Snyder, 1985–1986 * Robert M. Drummond Jr., 1986–1990 * Wayne A. Stutler, 1990–1994 * Charles G. Manly II, 1994–1996 * Nick L. Fantasia, 1996–2006 * S. Scott Sears, 2007–2009 * Matt Delligatti, 2009–2010 * Bill Burdick, 2011–2012 * Ronald J. Straight Sr. 2013–2016 * Thomas Mainella, 2017–2019 * Brad Merrifield, 2019–2020 * Thomas Mainella, 2021-present

Education

Fairmont Senior High School

Fairmont Senior High School Fairmont Senior High School, is a Public High School, public high school in Fairmont, West Virginia. The current school building, built in 1928, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Serving grades nine through twelve, it is one ...

is a public high school that is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The school was established in the late 1800s, and the school was relocated in 1905 and 1928. The current iteration of the school, which is located on Loop Park Dr, was designed by the architect

William B. Ittner William Butts Ittner (September 4, 1864 – 1936) was an architect in St. Louis, Missouri. He designed over 430 school buildings in Missouri and other areas, was president of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects from 1893 ...

Fairmont State University

Fairmont State University Fairmont State University is a public university in Fairmont, West Virginia. History Fairmont State University’s roots reach back to the formation of public education in the state of West Virginia. The first private normal school in West Vir ...

is a public university with an approximate enrollment of 3,800 students. The institution offers master's degrees in business, education, teaching, criminal justice, and nursing, in addition to 90 baccalaureate and 50 associate degrees. Originally established as a school for teachers, the college was named Fairmont Normal School, and was located on the corner of Fairmont Avenue and Second Street and moved to its present location in 1917.

Dunbar School

Dunbar School is a historic building in Fairmont, West Virginia, that used to be an all-black high school. The school was designed by the architect William B Ittner. The school was built in 1928.

Infrastructure

Highways

Fairmont is located in the North-Central region of the state, along West Virginia's I-79 High Tech Corridor. Major highways include: * I-79

Interstate 79 Interstate 79 (I-79) is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States, designated from I-77 in Charleston, West Virginia, north to Pennsylvania Route 5 (PA 5) and PA 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is a primary thoroughfare ...

U.S. Highway 19 * US 250

U.S. Highway 250 * WV-310

West Virginia Route 310 * WV-273

West Virginia Route 273

Airports

Fairmont Municipal Airport (Frankman Field) is a public use

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

located two

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Today ...

s (4 km) southwest of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

of Fairmont. It is owned by the Fairmont-Marion County Regional Airport Authority.

Notable people

Tony Adamle Anthony "Tony" Adamle (May 15, 1924 – October 7, 2000) was a professional American football linebacker and fullback in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire career for the Cle ...

, played in

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

for

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

(1947–1951, 1954) *

Max Balchowsky Max Balchowsky (January 15, 1924 - August 30, 1998) was a prominent 1950s and 1960s American race car builder and driver, and was involved in the film industry as a stuntman and an automotive mechanic. He is remembered for his crude but spectat ...

, prominent 1950s and 1960s American race car builder and driver. * Frank J. Breth,

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

brigadier general *

David Carpenter David Joseph Carpenter (born May 6, 1930), a.k.a. The Trailside Killer, is an American serial killer and serial rapist known for stalking and murdering a variety of individuals on hiking trails in state parks near San Francisco, California. He ...

, professional baseball player,

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

Joe Cerisano Joe Cerisano is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and President of Outta' the Woods Records. He experienced his first taste of mainstream success as the frontman for the chart-making early 1980s rock band, Silver Condor and has go ...

, singer, songwriter, musician ("Be All That You Can Be", "Hands Across America") *

Augusta Clark Augusta "Gussie" Clark (March 5, 1932 – October 13, 2013) was an American librarian, lawyer and politician. Clark was elected to an at-large seat on the Philadelphia City Council in 1979, becoming the second African-American woman to serve ...

, librarian, politician and lawyer; second African-American woman on

Philadelphia City Council The Philadelphia City Council, the legislative body of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consists of ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large. The council president is elected by the members from among their number. Each ...

(1980-2000) * Ann K. Covington, former chief justice of

Supreme Court of Missouri The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give ...

, first woman to hold that position * Frank Kendall Everest Jr.,

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

officer best remembered as aeroengineer and test pilot during 1950s; once known as "Fastest Man Alive" *

Ron Everhart Ronald Cochran Everhart (born January 11, 1962) is an American college basketball coach who is currently an assistant coach at West Virginia University. Born in Fairmont, West Virginia, he was previously head coach at Duquesne University, Nor ...

, assistant basketball coach

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

, head coach at Duquesne,

Northeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

and

McNeese State McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was renamed McNeese Junior College after John McNeese, an early local educator. The present name was adopted in 1970. ...

Art Finley Art Finley (born Arthur Finger; 1926 – August 7, 2015) was an American television and radio personality, mostly in San Francisco and Vancouver, until his retirement in 1995. His broadcasting career began at KXYZ Houston in 1943. He enlisted ...

, North American television and radio personality, mostly in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, remembered by many as "Mayor Art", host of children's show aired on

KRON-TV KRON-TV (channel 4) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, KRON-TV maintains studios on Front Street in the c ...

from 1959 to 1966 *

Aretas B. Fleming Aretas Brooks Fleming (October 15, 1839October 13, 1923) was the List of governors of West Virginia, 8th governor of West Virginia. In 1865, he married Carrie Watson Fleming, Carrie Watson."West Virginia's First Ladies," West Virginia Division of ...

, 8th

Governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

* Carrie Watson Fleming, First Lady of West Virginia, 1890–1893 * Frank Cruise Haymond, Judge of

West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the state supreme court of the state of West Virginia, the highest of West Virginia's state courts. The court sits primarily at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, although from 1873 t ...

, 1945-1972 * Thomas Haymond, 19th Century

congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

and lawyer *

Philip C. Jimeno Philip C. Jimeno (born February 28, 1947, in Fairmont, West Virginia) is an American politician and was a long-serving member of the Maryland State Legislature as a Democrat. Early life and education He grew up in West Virginia and attended Fa ...

, member of

Maryland State Legislature The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamb ...

* Johnnie Johnson, piano player and blues musician, member of

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

Rashod Kent Rashod D. Kent (born June 7, 1980) is a former American football tight end who played one season with the Houston Texans of the National Football League. He played college basketball at Rutgers University and attended Fairmont Senior High School ...

, NFL player *

Fuzzy Knight John Forrest "Fuzzy" Knight (May 9, 1901 – February 23, 1976) was an American film and television actor. He was also a singer, especially in his early career. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1928 and 1967, usually as a cowboy h ...

, film and television actor, appeared in over 180 films between 1929 and 1967, usually as a cowboy hero's sidekick *

John Knowles John Knowles (; September 16, 1926November 29, 2001) was an American novelist best known for ''A Separate Peace'' (1959). Biography Knowles was born on September 17, 1926, in Fairmont, West Virginia, the son of James M. Knowles, a purchasing ag ...

, author of ''

A Separate Peace ''A Separate Peace'' is a coming-of-age novel by John Knowles, published in 1958. Based on his earlier short story "Phineas", published in the May 1956 issue of ''Cosmopolitan'', it was Knowles's first published novel and became his best-know ...

'' *

Alan Mollohan Alan Bowlby Mollohan (born May 14, 1943) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1983 to 2011. He was a member of the Democratic Party and the Blue Dog Coalition. The district encompasses the northern part of th ...

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from West Virginia's 1st District *

Stephen Montague Stephen Rowley Montague (born March 10, 1943 in Syracuse, New York) is an American composer, pianist and conductor who grew up in Idaho, New Mexico, West Virginia and Florida. Musical Statement ''"I write music to engage an audience, to seduce ...

, classical composer, lived in Fairmont as a child from 1952 to 1957 *

Luella Mundel Luella Raab Mundel (April 26, 1913 – March 22, 2004),"Luella Mundel", ''The Lompoc Record'' (April 2, 2004), p. 3."Art Galleries", ''Santa Maria Times'' (June 30, 2006), p. 21. a former head of the art department of Fairmont State College in Fairm ...

, professor and

McCarthyism McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origin ...

victim * Michael Oliverio II, member of state senate, representing 13th District *

Francis H. Pierpont Francis Harrison Pierpont (January 25, 1814March 24, 1899), called the "Father of West Virginia," was an American lawyer and politician who achieved prominence during the American Civil War. During the conflict's first two years, Pierpont served ...

, Governor of union controlled parts of

during

, known as "father of West Virginia" *

Doris Piserchia Doris Piserchia (born Doris Summers, October 11, 1928 – September 15, 2021) was an American science fiction writer who was born and raised in Fairmont, West Virginia. She served in the United States Navy from 1950 to 1954 and after that took co ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

writer *

Raphiael Putney Raphiael Rashad Putney (born April 21, 1990) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the UMass Minutemen. High school career Putney attended Woodbridge High School in Lake Ridge, Virginia for coach Chad A ...

(born 1990), basketball player for

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

of the

Israeli National League Liga Leumit ( he, ליגה לאומית, lit. ''National League'') is the second division of the Israeli Football League, and below its Premier League. Structure There are 16 clubs in the league. At the end of each season, the two lowest-place ...

Mary Lou Retton Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American retired gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals. Her performanc ...

, gymnast, 1984 Olympic gold medalist, member of

President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports The President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition (PCSFN) is an American government organization that aims to "promote, encourage and motivate Americans of all ages to become physically active and participate in sports". It is part of the ...

* George S. Roberts, combat fighter pilot with the

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the ...

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...

, current head coach of the

Alabama Crimson Tide football team The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama (variously Alabama, UA, or Bama) in the sport of American football. The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Asso ...

of the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

. *

Dante Stills Dante Stills (born December 14, 1999) is an American football defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at West Virginia. College career 2018 In 2018 Stills had his debut as a true ...

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

for the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University, an American university located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Moun ...

Darius Stills Darius Stills (born May 1, 1998) is an American football defensive tackle who is a free agent. He played college football at West Virginia. Early years Stills attended Fairmont Senior High School in Fairmont, West Virginia. During his career, ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

for the

Robert Tinnell Robert Tinnell is an American writer, film director and producer. Robert directed such films as ''Feast of the Seven Fishes'' (2019), ''Frankenstein and Me'' (1996), and ''Kids of the Round Table'' (1995). His producer credits include ''Back Fo ...

, screenwriter, director, producer, author of

comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

and

graphic novels A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

* Clarence Wayland Watson, founded several companies that became Consolidation Coal and Mining Companies, was U.S. Senator from West Virginia from 1911 to 1913 *

Hershel W. Williams Hershel Woodrow "Woody" Williams (October 2, 1923 – June 29, 2022) was a United States Marine Corps Reserve warrant officer and United States Department of Veterans Affairs veterans service representative who received the Medal of Honor, ...

, awarded

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

for his outstanding heroism in

Battle of Iwo Jima The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJ ...

References

External links

City of Fairmont website
{{Authority control Cities in West Virginia County seats in West Virginia Micropolitan areas of West Virginia Cities in Marion County, West Virginia West Virginia populated places on the Monongahela River