Fairmount, Indiana

Fairmount is a town in Grant County in east central Indiana. The population was 2,992 at the 2000 census. It is ninety kilometers (fifty-five miles) northeast of Indianapolis. Largely a bed town to its three thousand citizens, Fairmount is best known as the boyhood home of actor James Dean, who is buried there.

Geography

Fairmount is located at (40.417702, -85.648942).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.8 km² (1.5 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,992 people, 1,226 households, and 859 families residing in the town. The population density was 785.9/km² (2,033.0/mi²). There were 1,325 housing units at an average density of 348.0/km² (900.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.30% White, 0.17% Black or African American, 0.70% Native American, 0.20% Asian, 0.07% from other races, and 0.57% from two or more races. 0.43% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Fairmount from the air, looking southwest.

There were 1,226 households out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.5% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.9% were non-families. 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the town the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 90.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $33,843, and the median income for a family was $44,033. Males had a median income of $31,136 versus $23,041 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,029. About 7.4% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.8% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

History

The Fairmount area was settled in the 1830's mostly by Quakers from North Carolina. The town was laid out in 1850 and named for Fairmount Park in Philadelphia; it was formally incorporated in 1870.

After a large deposit of natural gas was found in 1887, Fairmount became a center of the glass industry for the rest of the nineteenth century. Shortly after the depletion of the gas in 1900 the automobile industry set up factories in the nearby large cities, and Fairmount became a bedroom town, restoring some of its lost prosperity.

Fairmount High School under restoration 2003.

In the 1940's, James Dean lived with an uncle on a farm north of Fairmount. He attended Fairmount High School, graduating in 1949. After his death in 1955 James Dean was brought back to Fairmount and buried in Park Cemetery. In 1996 a small memorial park north of the town's business district was dedicated to him.

During the prosperity of the 1960's, Fairmount enjoyed a time of building with a new town hall, water works, post office and elementary school. At the end of the decade the local school district merged with a neighboring one, forming the Madison-Grant united school district. A new high school was built for this district, and Fairmount High School became a middle school. When a new junior high school was opened in 1986, the Fairmount High School building was closed for good.

Fairmount was hit very hard by the recession of 1980-1982, which brought the permanent loss of factory jobs and the failure of many farms. Yet the town managed to spring back later in the decade. Fairmount is still relatively prosperous despite the ill fortunes of nearby industrial cities and a steady loss of population.

Notable residents

James Dean, the actor, was raised in Fairmount and Jim Davis, the cartoonist of the comic strip Garfield was born in Fairmount. James Dean graduated from Fairmount High School, still standing (though unused) but in need of preservation, and is buried in Park Cemetery in Fairmount.

External links