Fairmont, North Carolina

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Fairmont is a town in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,604 at the 2000 census.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 External links

[edit] History

Fairmont was originally founded on the site of the Ashpole Institute, a small private academy, and was chartered in 1899 as Ashpole, then Union City and lastly as Fairmont. The first settlers to this area received land grants from the Lord's Proprietors and worked in the logging and naval stores industries producing lumber, turpentine and pitch for ships. By the late 1800's, a thriving tobacco market had been established as well. The railroads later followed to rapidly move these goods. By the early 1900's, tobacco became king, and by the mid-1950's, Fairmont was considered one of the major tobacco markets in the world. As health concerns have affected the sales of tobacco, many local farmers have turned to other cash crops, mainly corn, soybeans and wheat.

[edit] Geography

Fairmont is located at 34°29′53″N, 79°6′53″W (34.498004, -79.114713)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 5.8 km² (2.2 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,604 people, 1,078 households, and 685 families residing in the town. The population density was 452.9/km² (1,171.4/mi²). There were 1,186 housing units at an average density of 206.3/km² (533.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 30.26% White, 58.68% African American, 9.87% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.46% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.58% of the population.

There were 1,078 households out of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.0% were married couples living together, 27.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.4% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the town the population was spread out with 25.5% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 21.7% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 20.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 77.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 66.5 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $17,194, and the median income for a family was $28,409. Males had a median income of $28,597 versus $17,716 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,006. About 30.4% of families and 32.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 42.9% of those under age 18 and 32.0% of those age 65 or over.