Fairmont is a city in

Marion County, West Virginia Marion County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 56,205. Its county seat is Fairmont. The county was named in honor of General Francis Marion (''ca.'' 1732–1795), known to history as ...

, United States, and its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

. The population was 18,313 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the state. It is the principal city of the Fairmont micropolitan area, which includes all of Marion County in

North Central West Virginia North Central West Virginia (sometimes known as "Mountaineer Country") is a region in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The region's largest cities are Morgantown, Fairmont, and Clarksburg. Counties * Monongalia County * Marion County * Harri ...

and had a population of 56,205 in 2020. Fairmont is also a principal city of the larger Morgantown–Fairmont combined statistical area. The city is home to

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 Vi ...

, serving more than 3,000 students.

History

Early settlements

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

subsistence farming Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops on smallholdings to meet the needs of themselves and their families. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements. Planting decisions occ ...

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 an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

, migrated to western

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

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 b ...

, wife of President

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

. 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, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

. 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 ( , ), sometimes 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 nor ...

. 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.

Modern history

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 U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

. 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, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, 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 Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessar ...

, 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 Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

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 using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

—including the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

on its way from

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

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 mov ...

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

coal mines Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

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 A ...

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 squar ...

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, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, 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 cold ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''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

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 18,416 people and 7,903 households residing in the city. There were 9,045 housing units in Fairmont. The racial makeup of the city was 84.2%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 7.3%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.6% Asian, 0.3% Native American, 0.5% from other races, and 7% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 2.2% of the population. There were 7,903 households, of which 37.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 30.6% had a female householder with no spouse present, 23% had a male householder with no spouse present. The average household and family size was 2.83. The median age in the city was 34.4 years. With 18.3% of the city being under 18. The median household income in the city was $47,618 and the poverty rate was 19.9%.

2010 census

At the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, 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 (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

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

, 7.5%

, 0.2% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.4% from other races, and 2.3% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino 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

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% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...

, 0.20% from other races, and 1.49% from two or more races.

or Latino 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 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 und ...

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 average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

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 ...

, 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

snack A snack is a small portion of Human food, food generally Eating, eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including Food packaging, packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at ho ...

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". The city is home to multiple offices for national agencies. 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 cybercrime 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. The

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility, 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 ...

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

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...

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

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 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 fo ...

s, houses more than 100 full-time employees. The

International Thespian Society The International Thespian Society (ITS) is an honor society for high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary educ ...

, originally called National Thespians, was founded in 1929 in Fairmont, West Virginia by Dr. Paul Opp, Earnest Bavely, and Harry T. Leeper. It honored high school theater students who participated in their school programs. The first troupe was started by Dr. Earl Blank at Natrona County High School in

Casper, Wyoming Casper is a city in and the county seat of Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the List of municipalities in Wyoming, second-most populous city in the state after Cheyenne, Wyoming, Cheyenne, with the population at 59,038 as of th ...

Government

Fairmont has a Council-manager government, whereby the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

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, borough counc ...

and the

city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...

takes care of the day-to-day operations. The current mayor is Anne Bolyard and the current city manager is Travis L. Blosser.

Past mayors

* William Elza Arnett, 1906–1908 *

Matthew M. Neely Matthew Mansfield Neely (November 9, 1874January 18, 1958) was an American Democratic politician from West Virginia. He is the only West Virginian to serve in both houses of the United States Congress and as the 21st governor of West Virginia. H ...

, 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 * William 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, 2021–2023 * Brad Merrifield, 2019–2020 * Anne Bolyard, 2023–present

Education

Fairmont Senior High School is a public high school that is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. 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.

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 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 t ...

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 Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

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 at t ...

s (4 km) southwest of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center 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 wit ...

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

Notable people

* Tony Adamle, football player * Max Balchowsky, 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 or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

brigadier general * David Carpenter, professional baseball player *

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 gon ...

, 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 on t ...

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

Philadelphia City Council The Philadelphia City Council is the legislative body of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is composed of 17 councilmembers: ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large from throughou ...

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

Supreme Court of Missouri The Supreme Court of Missouri (SCOMO) 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 constituti ...

, first woman to hold that position * Mike DeVault (born 1958), state legislator * Frank Kendall Everest Jr.,

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

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, Nort ...

, college basketball head coach *

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, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

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 cit ...

, 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 as the San Francisco Bay Area's outlet for The CW. Owned and operated by The CW's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, KRON-TV has studios ...

from 1959 to 1966 * Aretas B. Fleming, 8th

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

* 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 ...

, 1945-1972 * Thomas Haymond, 19th Century

congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, 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 t ...

and lawyer * Philip C. Jimeno, member of Maryland State Legislature * Johnnie Johnson, piano player and blues musician, member of

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

* Rashod Kent, professional football player in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) *

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 hero' ...

, 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 16, 1926, in Fairmont, West Virginia, the son of James M. Knowles, a purchasing ag ...

, author of ''

A Separate Peace ''A Separate Peace'' is a Bildungsroman, coming-of-age novel by John Knowles, published in 1959. Based on his earlier short story "Phineas", published in the May 1956 issue of ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'', it was Knowles's first p ...

'' * Phil Mallow, West Virginia state delegate *

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 t ...

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from West Virginia's 1st District * Stephen Montague, classical composer, lived in Fairmont as a child from 1952 to 1957 * Luella Mundel, professor and

McCarthyism McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...

victim * Michael Oliverio II, member of state senate, representing 13th District * Francis H. Pierpont, Governor of union controlled parts of

during

, known as "father of West Virginia" * Doris Piserchia,

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

writer * Raphiael Putney (born 1990), basketball player *

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. Retton's per ...

, 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 a Federal Advisory Committee Act, federal advisory committee that aims to promote "programs and initiatives that motivate people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to le ...

* 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 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of th ...

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. ( ; born October 31, 1951) is an American sportscaster and former Professional gridiron football, professional and college football coach. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's ''College GameDay (football TV program), Colleg ...

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

head coach and assistant coach in the NFL, born in Fairmont * Dante Stills, football player * Darius Stills, football player * Rosemary M. Thomas, academic administrator * Robert Tinnell, screenwriter, director, producer, author of

comic books A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

and

graphic novels A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form 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 comics scholars and ...

* 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, awarded

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

during the battle of

Battle of Iwo Jima The 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 (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, desi ...

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 Populated places on the West Fork River Populated places on the Tygart Valley River 1820 establishments in Virginia Populated places established in 1820