Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #6 of 61 in West Virginia. What drives it
16 places in town are on the National Register, among them four historic districts with 466 buildings between them. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1850.
Fairmont dates its founding to 1819 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1850.
More historic than 96% 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 96% of U.S. towns, #6 of 61 in West Virginia. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
West Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical West Virginia town has 29.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Fairmont’s 263 sits above most of its state (79% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 480 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 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.
Fairmont’s post office has been open since 1843. Four other post offices 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Fairmont.
In the late 18th century, various subsistence farming settlements were established in the vicinity of the future 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 archiveRev. Charles C. Pearson
In the archiveRoom with table settings
BuiltFairmont Senior High School is built
Born hereFuzzy Knight is born here
In the archiveChrist (Episcopal) Church, Fairmont, W.V
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereJohnnie Johnson is born here
BuiltDunbar School is built
Born hereMary Lou Retton is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1800s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1902Christ (Episcopal) Church, Fairmont, W.V
1902Rev. James Sheerin
1902Rev. Thomas E. Winecoff
1902Thomas G. Steele
1905Charles G. Badgley, architect
19085 pm. Boys going home from Monougal Glass Works. A na…
1908Tipple at Gaston mine 1908
1908Driver Boy, Barnesville, Mine. Location: Fairmont, We…
1908A tipple, Gaston mine. Location: Fairmont, West Virgi…
1908Boys going home from Glass Works, Monongah Glass Works
1908Drivers and Trappers Going Home: Barnesville Mine. Lo…
19085 P.M. Boys going home from Monongah Glass Works. A n…
1908Arlie Fankins, Shovels in Barnesville Mine: Says he i…
1908These boys (and one other small one, who is not prese…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fairmont. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fairmont.
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.
1884Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 · +15Peaked at 29,346 in 1950; 18,416 people lived here in 2020.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fairmont’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1819, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Fairmont’s post office opened in 1820, and the census of 1850 counted 683 people here.
Fairmont is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #6 of 61 in West Virginia. 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.
16 listings: 11 buildings, among them the Marion County Courthouse and Sheriff's House (listed 1979, the first), 4 historic districts with 466 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 480 historic buildings in all.
37% of Fairmont’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1951.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (8), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (16), 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.
