Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Fairmont was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 31 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1915 on.
The Fairmont post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Ashpole (1873), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fairmont is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
North Carolina towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical North Carolina town has 12.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Fairmont’s 126 sits above most of its state (79% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 31 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fairmont’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Fairmont.
Fairmont was originally known as Ashpole in homage to the nearby Ashpole Swamp. It was incorporated as Union City in 1899, but the name was changed back to Ashpole in 1901. Six years later the name was changed to Fairmont.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveFairmont main street, 1915
Born hereEffie Neal Jones is born here
Born hereRod Griffin is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fairmont’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Fairmont’s post office has been open since 1907. Another post office, Ashpole, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Fairmont post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Fairmont is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
One place: the Fairmont Commercial Historic District (listed 2010).
10% of Fairmont’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1970.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1915
2012
2012
2012
2004