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History · Fairmount

Fairmount’s post office opened in 1884, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

1884first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Fairmount began

When was Fairmount founded?

1884

The Fairmount post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, De Villo (1880) and De Villo (1888), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

2020 census: 343142 years
Founding year: the first Fairmount post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Fairmount’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Fairmount are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Fairmount.Old housesHalf of Fairmount’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fairmount’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fairmount’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Fairmount’s post office has been open since 1884. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

De Villo
1880–1884
Fairmount
1884–today
De Villo
1888–1895
18801950today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Fairmount, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Fairmount yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Fairmount is a city in Richland County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 343 at the 2020 census. Fairmount was founded in 1884. It is part of the Wahpeton, ND–MN Micropolitan Statistical Area. In July 1884, a tornado destroyed the schoolhouse in Fairmount. Fifteen students were injured, and the teacher's leg was fractured.

Its first post office opened in 1884. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 367 to 343 (-7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Fairmount, 1880 to 1895

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe De Villo post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe De Villo post office closes
  4. 1884Post officeThe Fairmount post office opens
  5. 1888Post officeThe De Villo post office opens
  6. 1895Post officeThe De Villo post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Fairmount

Nobody well known was born in Fairmount itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Ryan SmithCanadian footballer · b. 1991
J
Jerome G. MillerAmerican academic · b. 1931
C
Clark WilliamsAmerican politician · b. 1942
D
David RichmanBasketball coach · b. 1978
Oliver S. PowellAmerican economist, educator, and author · b. 1896

Questions about Fairmount’s history

What year was Fairmount founded?

The Fairmount post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From 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.