Fairmont is a city in and county seat of Marion County,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

, United States. The population was 18,313 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Fairmont Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Marion County, and is a principal city of the larger Morgantown–Fairmont Combined Statistical Area.

History

Beginnings

In the eighteenth century, the earliest development of Fairmont consisted of subsistence farming settlements. In 1789, Boaz Fleming, a Revolutionary War

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...

, migrated to western

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

and purchased a 254-acre farm from Jonathan Bozarth. In 1808, Fleming made his annual trek to Clarksburg to pay his brother's Harrison County taxes. While in Clarksburg, Fleming attended a social gathering that included his cousin Dolley Madison, wife of President

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

. Fleming complained to Mrs. Madison about having to travel over a hundred miles each year from his home to pay his Monongalia County taxes and his brother's Harrison County taxes. Mrs. Madison supposedly suggested that he create his own county to save him all that travel. In 1814, Fleming circulated a petition to do precisely that, naming the proposed county Madison County in honor of Dolley and James Madison. Milford, now Rivesville, was the only town within the borders of Fleming's proposed county, so Fleming decided to make Milford the seat of Madison County. However, Milford's citizens preferred to remain part of Monongalia County. As a result, Fleming's petition failed to gain sufficient support to be presented to the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

. Fleming then focused on creating a new town near his farm, which was located on the west side of the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-c ...

. In 1817, Fleming's sons—William and David—began to clear land on a part of their father's farm to make way for the new town; this part of the farm would later become downtown Fairmont.

1819 to present

In 1819, Fairmont was founded as Middletown, Virginia. It was named Middletown because either it was in the middle of two cities, Morgantown and Clarksburg, or Fleming's first wife, Elizabeth Hutchinson, was originally from Middletown,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...

. That same year, a road was built between those two cities. Fleming's new town was about halfway between the two cities, which made it a resting point. The town was incorporated as Middletown on January 19, 1820. The current borders of Marion County were established in 1842, and Middletown was named the county's seat. At that time, William Haymond Jr. suggested that the town's name be changed to Fairmont because the town had a beautiful overlook of the Monongahela River, giving it a "fair mount". The Borough of Fairmont was incorporated in 1843 by the Virginia General Assembly. In 1863, during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, Confederate General William E. Jones and his men raided Fairmont and cut the Union's supply lines to take food and horses. They also burned the books from the personal library of Governor Francis Harrison Pierpont. Many of the first buildings in Fairmont were poorly constructed. By 1852—little more than 30 years after the city's founding—a large portion of Fairmont was reported to be run-down and dilapidated. Reports from 1873 indicate that these buildings had continued to fall into disrepair. On April 2, 1876, a fire destroyed a large portion of the city's

business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

, as well as many houses in the area. The continuing dilapidation of the city's buildings may have contributed to the fire; the large number of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

mines under Fairmont may have also played a role. Between 1891 and 1901—in a span of only 10 years—Fairmont's population had increased from 1,000 to 7,000. The City of Fairmont was chartered in 1899; as a result of the charter, the city absorbed the surrounding towns of Palatine (also known as East Side) and West Fairmont. By 1901, Fairmont was an important commercial center. Many railroads—including the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

on its way from

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic counties of England, historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th c ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

to Wheeling—traveled through the city. By this time, Fairmont was also the leading center of the coal trade industry in northern West Virginia, employing some 10,000 workers in the coal mines around Fairmont. By 1978, an issue with Fairmont's land experiencing

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope mov ...

appeared because the remains of Fairmont's 19th-century

coal mines Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron fro ...

were crumbling. As a result, over the following years, the federal government along with other institutions spent money to fix the subsidence issue to prevent damage to the town.

Geography

The Tygart Valley River and the

West Fork River The West Fork River is a principal tributary of the Monongahela River, long, in north-central West Virginia, United States. Via the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 881 sq ...

join in Fairmont to form the

. Buffalo Creek, a tributary of the Monongahela River, flows through the northern part of the city. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Climate

Fairmont has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

( Köppen ''Dfa'') with very warm summers and freezing winters. However, it is not uncommon during winter for warm air from the Gulf of Mexico to raise temperatures above , which occurs on average six times each January and over eight in December and February. In contrast, when very cold air from Canada moves into West Virginia temperatures can go below , which can be expected during 3.2 mornings each winter, but which occurred on twelve mornings during the extremely cold January 1977, whose average temperature of was the coldest month on record by . Despite the abundant precipitation throughout the year, the relative dryness of cold air means that most precipitation is rain even during the winter: the most snowfall in a month being is November 1950, and the most in a season between July 1950 and June 1951. The least snow in a season has been between July 1918 and June 1919, whilst the wettest calendar year has been 1956 with and the driest – as with all of West Virginia – 1930 with . The hottest temperature has been on August 8, 1918, and the coldest on January 21, 1994.

Demographics

2010 census

At the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

, there were 18,704 people, 8,133 households and 4,424 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was . There were 9,200 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 88.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 7.5%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.2% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.4% from other races, and 2.3% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 1.4% of the population. There were 8,133 households, of which 24.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 45.6% were non-families. 36.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.83. The median age was 36.8 years. 18% of residents were under the age of 18; 16.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25% were from 25 to 44; 24.4% were from 45 to 64; and 16.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.2% male and 51.8% female.

2000 census

At the 2000 census, there were 19,097 people, 8,447 households and 4,671 families living in the city. The

was 2,438.5 per square mile (941.7/km²). There were 9,755 housing units at an average density of 1,245.6 per square mile (481.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.16%

, 7.26%

, 0.26% Native American, 0.61% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.20% from other races, and 1.49% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.82% of the population. There were 8,447 households, of which 21.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.2% were

living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.7% were non-families. 36.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.83. 18.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 14.9% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 20.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.3 males. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways ...

was $25,628 and the median family income was $37,126. Males had a median income of $27,944 and females $20,401. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

was $16,062. About 12.6% of families and 20.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 22.0% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

Fairmont is home to Country Club Bakery, which is where the pepperoni roll

snack A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. Traditionally, snacks are ...

originates. The bakery continues to serve the roll along with their various other baked goods. Fairmont has considered itself to be the "pepperoni roll capital of the world".

Landmarks

* Fairmont's

National White Collar Crime Center The National White Collar Crime Center, also known as NW3C, is a congressionally funded non-profit corporation which trains state and local law enforcement agencies to combat emerging economic and cyber crime problems. The NW3C provides the genera ...

provides nationwide support to law enforcement agencies involved in prevention, investigation, and prosecution of economic and high-tech crime. *

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

Independent Verification and Validation Facility NASA's Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) Program was established in 1993 as part of an agency-wide strategy to provide the highest achievable levels of safety and cost-effectiveness for mission critical software. NASA's IV&V Program wa ...

, governed by the

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC empl ...

, houses more than 150 full-time employees and more than 20 in-house partners and contractors. *

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

Robert H. Mollohan Research Facility, which receives weather data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites and houses more than 100 full-time employees. * The Jacobs-Hutchinson Block building, also known as Peoples' National Bank and Friendly Furniture Store

Government

Fairmont has a Council-manager government, whereby the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

serves as chairman of the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

and the

city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief exec ...

takes care of the day-to-day operations. The current mayor is Thomas Mainella and the current city manager is Valerie Means.

City council

Josh Rice, District 1 Term expires: 2022 Anne Bolyard, District 2 Term expires: 2024 Karl "David" Kennedy, District 3 Term expires: 2022 Richard "Rick" Garcia, District 4 Term expires: 2024 Barry Bledsoe, District 5 Term expires: 2022 Gia Deasy, District 6 Term expires: 2024 Nick "Nicky" Cinalli, District 7 Term expires: 2022 Thomas Mainella, Mayor, District 8 Term expires: 2022 Donna Blood, Deputy Mayor, District 9 Term expires: 2022

Past mayors

* William Elza Arnett, 1906–1908 *

Matthew M. Neely Matthew Mansfield Neely (November 9, 1874January 18, 1958) was an American Democratic politician from West Virginia. He is the only West Virginian to serve in both houses of the United States Congress and as the Governor of West Virginia. He is ...

, 1908–1910 * William Conaway * A.C. West * Fred T. Wilson, 1935–1940 * Fred T. Wilson, 1944–1945 * Albert F. Robertson, 1947–1950 * James H. Hanway, 1951–1955 * Wiliam G. Meyer, 1959 * Forrest L. Springer * Albert F. Robinson * J. Richard Davis * William M. Hawkins * James L. Turner, 1979 * Robert K. Powell, 1980 * James L. Turner, 1981 * Robert K. Powell, 1982 * Gregory T. Hinton, 1982-1984 * Robert M. Drummond Sr., 1984–1985 * Carl J. Snyder, 1985–1986 * Robert M. Drummond Jr., 1986–1990 * Wayne A. Stutler, 1990–1994 * Charles G. Manly II, 1994–1996 * Nick L. Fantasia, 1996–2006 * S. Scott Sears, 2007–2009 * Matt Delligatti, 2009–2010 * Bill Burdick, 2011–2012 * Ronald J. Straight Sr. 2013–2016 * Thomas Mainella, 2017–2019 * Brad Merrifield, 2019–2020 * Thomas Mainella, 2021-present

Education

Fairmont Senior High School

Fairmont Senior High School is a public high school that is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. The school was established in the late 1800s, and the school was relocated in 1905 and 1928. The current iteration of the school, which is located on Loop Park Dr, was designed by the architect William B. Ittner.

Fairmont State University

Fairmont State University is a public university with an approximate enrollment of 3,800 students. The institution offers master's degrees in business, education, teaching, criminal justice, and nursing, in addition to 90 baccalaureate and 50 associate degrees. Originally established as a school for teachers, the college was named Fairmont Normal School, and was located on the corner of Fairmont Avenue and Second Street and moved to its present location in 1917.

Dunbar School

Dunbar School is a historic building in Fairmont, West Virginia, that used to be an all-black high school. The school was designed by the architect William B Ittner. The school was built in 1928.

Infrastructure

Highways

Fairmont is located in the North-Central region of the state, along West Virginia's I-79 High Tech Corridor. Major highways include: * I-79

Interstate 79 Interstate 79 (I-79) is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States, designated from I-77 in Charleston, West Virginia, north to Pennsylvania Route 5 (PA 5) and PA 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is a primary thoroughfar ...

U.S. Highway 19 * US 250

U.S. Highway 250 * WV-310

West Virginia Route 310 * WV-273

West Virginia Route 273

Airports

Fairmont Municipal Airport (Frankman Field) is a public use

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

located two

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Tod ...

s (4 km) southwest of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

of Fairmont. It is owned by the Fairmont-Marion County Regional Airport Authority.

Notable people

Tony Adamle Anthony "Tony" Adamle (May 15, 1924 – October 7, 2000) was a professional American football linebacker and fullback in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire career for the Clev ...

, played in NFL for

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...

(1947–1951, 1954) *

Max Balchowsky Max Balchowsky (January 15, 1924 - August 30, 1998) was a prominent 1950s and 1960s American race car builder and driver, and was involved in the film industry as a stuntman and an automotive mechanic. He is remembered for his crude but spectator- ...

, prominent 1950s and 1960s American race car builder and driver. *

Frank J. Breth Frank J. Breth (October 12, 1937 – December 6, 2003) was a United States Marine Corps brigadier general who was the commanding general, Marine Corps Recruit Depot and the Western Recruiting Region, San Diego, California. Early years Frank Bre ...

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

brigadier general * David Carpenter, professional baseball player,

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

* Joe Cerisano, singer, songwriter, musician ("Be All That You Can Be", "Hands Across America") * Augusta Clark, librarian, politician and lawyer; second African-American woman on

Philadelphia City Council The Philadelphia City Council, the legislative body of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consists of ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large. The council president is elected by the members from among their number. Each ...

(1980-2000) * Ann K. Covington, former chief justice of Supreme Court of Missouri, first woman to hold that position * Frank Kendall Everest Jr., U.S. Air Force officer best remembered as aeroengineer and test pilot during 1950s; once known as "Fastest Man Alive" *

Ron Everhart Ronald Cochran Everhart (born January 11, 1962) is an American college basketball coach who is currently an assistant coach at West Virginia University. Born in Fairmont, West Virginia, he was previously head coach at Duquesne University, North ...

, assistant basketball coach

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

, head coach at Duquesne, Northeastern and McNeese State *

Art Finley Art Finley (born Arthur Finger; 1926 – August 7, 2015) was an American television and radio personality, mostly in San Francisco and Vancouver, until his retirement in 1995. His broadcasting career began at KXYZ Houston in 1943. He enlisted i ...

, North American television and radio personality, mostly in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

, remembered by many as "Mayor Art", host of children's show aired on

KRON-TV KRON-TV (channel 4) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, KRON-TV maintains studios on Front Street in the c ...

from 1959 to 1966 * Aretas B. Fleming, 8th Governor of West Virginia *

Carrie Watson Fleming Caroline Margaret Watson Fleming (1844–1931) was the wife of former Governor of West Virginia Aretas B. Fleming and served as that state's First Lady from 1890 to 1893. Biography Fleming was born on April 29, 1844, at Fairmont, West Virginia ...

, First Lady of West Virginia, 1890–1893 *

Frank Cruise Haymond Frank Cruise Haymond (April 13, 1887 – June 10, 1972) was a justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. Early life, education, and military service Born in Marion County, West Virginia,

, Judge of West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, 1945-1972 * Thomas Haymond, 19th Century

congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

and lawyer * Philip C. Jimeno, member of Maryland State Legislature * Johnnie Johnson, piano player and blues musician, member of

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...

* Rashod Kent, NFL player * Fuzzy Knight, film and television actor, appeared in over 180 films between 1929 and 1967, usually as a cowboy hero's sidekick * John Knowles, author of '' A Separate Peace'' * Alan Mollohan, U.S. Representative from West Virginia's 1st District *

Stephen Montague Stephen Rowley Montague (born March 10, 1943 in Syracuse, New York) is an American composer, pianist and conductor who grew up in Idaho, New Mexico, West Virginia and Florida. Musical Statement ''"I write music to engage an audience, to seduce ...

, classical composer, lived in Fairmont as a child from 1952 to 1957 * Luella Mundel, professor and

McCarthyism McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origin ...

victim * Michael Oliverio II, member of state senate, representing 13th District * Francis H. Pierpont, Governor of union controlled parts of

during

, known as "father of West Virginia" * Doris Piserchia,

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

writer *

Raphiael Putney Raphiael Rashad Putney (born April 21, 1990) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the UMass Minutemen. High school career Putney attended Woodbridge High School in Lake Ridge, Virginia for coach Chad An ...

(born 1990), basketball player for Maccabi Haifa of the Israeli National League * Mary Lou Retton, gymnast, 1984 Olympic gold medalist, member of President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports * George S. Roberts, combat fighter pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen *

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphi ...

, current head coach of the

Alabama Crimson Tide football team The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama (variously Alabama, UA, or Bama) in the sport of American football. The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Ass ...

of the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publ ...

. * Dante Stills,

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

for the West Virginia Mountaineers * Darius Stills,

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the l ...

for the West Virginia Mountaineers *

Robert Tinnell Robert Tinnell is an American writer, film director and producer. Robert directed such films as ''Feast of the Seven Fishes'' (2019), ''Frankenstein and Me'' (1996), and ''Kids of the Round Table'' (1995). His producer credits include ''Back Fo ...

, screenwriter, director, producer, author of

comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are oft ...

and graphic novels *

Clarence Wayland Watson Clarence Wayland Watson (May 8, 1864May 24, 1940) was a coal mining "baron" from West Virginia. Watson organized several coal companies that became the Consolidation Coal and Mining Companies in West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ken ...

, founded several companies that became Consolidation Coal and Mining Companies, was U.S. Senator from West Virginia from 1911 to 1913 *

Hershel W. Williams Hershel Woodrow "Woody" Williams (October 2, 1923 – June 29, 2022) was a United States Marine Corps Reserve warrant officer and United States Department of Veterans Affairs veterans service representative who received the Medal of Honor, ...

, awarded

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of val ...

for his outstanding heroism in

Battle of Iwo Jima The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA ...

References

External links

City of Fairmont website
{{Authority control Cities in West Virginia County seats in West Virginia Micropolitan areas of West Virginia Cities in Marion County, West Virginia West Virginia populated places on the Monongahela River