Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Fairmont

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Fairmont

Fairmont dates to 1871, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Fairmont Creamery Company Building and the Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph Exchange Building in Fairmount. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1880.

1871founded
2on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fairmont’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fairmont began

When was Fairmont founded?

1871

Fairmont dates its founding to 1871 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 600 in 18802020 census: 592155 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1872.The full story ↓

What stands out about Fairmont’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1884 to 1922, drew every building in Fairmont.On the map since 18983 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1985. Watch Fairmont change.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,029 in 1890; 592 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fairmont’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewThe splendid engine drawing President R…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Fairmont, building by building, 1884–1922

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Fairmont fire insurance map, 1884, sheet 11884Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the map

Fairmont on the map, 1898 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fairmont. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Fairmont on the 1898 USGS mapFairmont on the 1969 USGS mapFairmont on the 1985 USGS map1898York sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fairmont.

The story

How Fairmont came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fairmont.

Read it all →

Fairmont was platted in 1871 when the Burlington & Quincy Railroad was extended to that point. The name was chosen to conform with the alphabetical stops on the new line traveling westward from Lincoln: Berks, Crete, Dorchester, Exeter, Fairmont, Grafton, Huxley, etc. Fairmont is a descriptive name referring to the town's scenic setting at a lofty elevation.

By the fall of 1872 Fairmont had a school building, hotels, more stores, lumberyards, and coal and feed yards under construction. The first newspaper, "Fairmont Bulletin" was published in 1872. By 1881 there were three with the introduction of the "Nebraska Bulletin" and the "Nebraska Signal".

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fairmont, 1871 to 1903

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871
    FoundingFairmont is established
  3. 1872Post officeThe Fairmont post office opens
  4. 1874Born hereMargaret E. Haughawout is born here
  5. 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 1,029
  6. 1898On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 20th century
  8. 1903In the archiveThe splendid engine drawing President Roosevelt's special train
By decade

Fairmont, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
The splendid engine drawing President Roosevelt's special train1903The splendid engine drawing President Roosevelt's spe…
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
2022-09-11 16 08 05 Aerial view southward along U.S. Route 81 between McCool Junction, York County, Nebraska (foregroun…20222022-09-11 16 08 05 Aerial view southward along U.S. …BN Fairmont, Neb. in May19802016BN Fairmont, Neb. in May1980Advanced Bioenergy plant 12009Advanced Bioenergy plant 1NEMap-doton-Fairmont2005NEMap-doton-Fairmont
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

The splendid engine drawing President Roosevelt's special train
Retake this viewThe splendid engine drawing President Roosevelt's special train, 1903

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 · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Fairmont

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Fairmont Creamery Company Building
Fairmont Creamery Company BuildingLincoln Telephone & Telegraph Exchange Building in Fairmount
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Commercial1
Spanish Revival1
Fairmont Creamery Company BuildingCommercial
Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph Exchange Building in FairmountSpanish Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Fairmont, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,029

Peaked at 1,029 in 1890; 592 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fairmont’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Fairmont’s history

What year was Fairmont founded?

In 1871, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Fairmont’s post office opened in 1872, and the census of 1880 counted 600 people here.

What is on the National Register in Fairmont?

Two places: the Fairmont Creamery Company Building (listed 1983) and the Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph Exchange Building in Fairmount (2006).

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 Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.