Fairmount, Indiana

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Town of Fairmount, Indiana
settlement_type = Town
nickname =

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imagesize = 250px
image_caption = Fairmount from the air, looking southwest

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mapsize = 250px
map_caption = Location in the state of Indiana


mapsize1 =
map_caption1 =
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = Indiana
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Grant
subdivision_type3 = Township
subdivision_name3 = Fairmount
government_type =
leader_title =
leader_name =
area_note =
established_date =
area_magnitude = 1 E6
area_total_km2 = 3.8
area_land_km2 = 3.8
area_water_km2 = 0.0
area_total_sq_mi = 1.5
area_land_sq_mi = 1.5
area_water_sq_mi = 0.0
elevation_m = 263
elevation_ft = 863
latd = 40 |latm = 25 |lats = 4 |latNS = N
longd = 85 |longm = 38 |longs = 56 |longEW = W
population_as_of = 2006
population_note =
population_total = 2866
population_density_km2 = 785.9
timezone = EST
utc_offset = -5
timezone_DST = EST
utc_offset_DST = -4
latitude = 40°25'4" N
longitude = 85°38'56" W
postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 46928
area_code = 765
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 18-22432GR|2
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 0434304GR|3
footnotes =
website = [http://www.fairmount-in.us/ The Town of Fairmount]

Fairmount is a town in Fairmount Township, Grant County in east central Indiana. The population was 2,866 at the 2006 census. It is ninety kilometers (fifty-five miles) northeast of Indianapolis. Largely a bedroom community 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 coor dms|40|25|4|N|85|38|56|W|city (40.417702, -85.648942)GR|1.

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

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 2,992 people, 1,226 households, and 859 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,033.0 people per square mile (785.9/km²). There were 1,325 housing units at an average density of 900.3/sq mi (348.0/km²). 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. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.43% of the population.

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 1830s 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 community, restoring some of its lost prosperity.

In the 1940s, 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 1960s, 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.

British singer Morrissey shot the video for his single "Suedehead" in Fairmount, tracing the steps of James Dean. Included in the video are the high school and farm Dean lived on.

Notable residents

*James Dean, the actor, was raised in Fairmount. Dean graduated from Fairmount High School, and is buried in Park Cemetery in Fairmount.
*Jim Davis, the cartoonist of the comic strip "Garfield", was born in Fairmount.
*Phil Jones is known throughout the U.S. for his work as a television journalist; Jones has been seen most recently on CBS's "48 Hours". Jones graduated from Fairmount High School in 1955.
*Robert Sheets is the former director of the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables, Florida. Sheets is a 1955 graduate of Fairmount High School and attended Ball State University in nearby Muncie.
*Mary Jane Ward authored several books including "The Snake Pit", a Book of the Month Club selection which became a major motion picture starring Olivia de Havilland. Ward was born in Fairmount in 1905.

References

External links

* [http://www.fairmount-in.us/ The Town of Fairmount] (official site)
* [http://www.jamesdeanartifacts.com/index.php Fairmount Historical Museum]
* [http://www.mgusc.k12.in.us/ Madison-Grant United School Corporation]
* [http://www.dysmey.org/fairmount/ The Fairmount Web Spot]
* [http://www.fairmountvet.com/ Fairmount Veterinary Clinic]