Fairmont (West Virginia)



Fairmont, nicknamed the "Friendly City", is a city of 18,313 people (as of 2020) in West Virginia, and the county seat of Marion County (pop. 56,000). It was established in 1820 as Middletown, and changed in 1843 to Fairmont, short for "Fair Mountain". The city is located on the Monongahela River at it's origin at the confluence of the Tygart Valley River flowing northwest from Grafton, and the West Fork River flowing north from Clarksburg. Fairmont claims to be the origin of the Pepperoni Roll, West Virginia's official state food. Mary Lou Retton &mdash; a gold-medalist gymnast in the 1984 Olympics, who was highly popular around the country and particularly in West Virginia &mdash; came from Fairmont. Fairmont is home to Fairmont State University, the third largest in the state, and is located 20 minutes south of Morgantown, home to the largest university in West Virginia; West Virginia University. Fairmont is the third largest metro area in the North Central West Virginia region, also known as 'Mountaineer Country' and the 'I-79 High-Technology Corridor', sitting about halfway between Clarksburg and Morgantown, the largest city in the region. This part of the state is home to companies such as Allegheny Energy, the FBI Identification Facility, and numerous software-oriented businesses.

By car
Fairmont sits at the intersection of US-19, between Morgantown and Clarksburg, and US-250, between Wheeling and Elkins. It's also adjacent to I-79 (exits 132 through 139), which runs largely parallel to US-19 in the region.

See

 * Nine of the seventeen covered bridges in West Virginia are within easy access of Fairmont. Kathleen Panek, owner of the Gillum House B&B in Shinnston, has route information if you want to visit all of them.

Movies

 * Sunset Ellis Drive-in, south of Shinnston, +1 304-592-3909. Open Friday through Monday, May until Labor Day. $6.

Learn

 * The local newspaper is the Times West Virginian, +1 304-367-2500.
 * Fairmont State, 1201 Locust Avenue, +1 304-367-4892. Community and technical college founded in 1974, and state university founded in 1865, offering 90 baccalaureate and 50 associate degrees.

Eat
Fairmont is the "Home of the Original Pepperoni Roll". If you want to get them fresh, rather than pre-wrapped in a convenience mart, your best bets are the traditional variety at the Country Club Bakery, or the giant variety at Colasessano's.



Go next

 * Morgantown is about 30 minutes north on I-79.
 * Clarksburg and Bridgeport are about 30 minutes south on I-79.
 * Grafton is about 30 minutes southeast on I-79 and US-250.