Why visit Fairmount
Townapedia lists 3 museums and landmarks in and around town.
Highlights include Baldwin Addition Historic District and Fairmount Commercial Historic District.
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 84°F; January lows average 18°F, and about 24 inches of snow fall in a normal year.
Weather in Fairmount
Forecast from the National Weather Service. Full forecast
About Fairmount
Fairmount is a town in Fairmount Township, Grant County in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 2,682 at the 2020 census. It is 55 miles (88 km) northeast of Indianapolis. Largely a bedroom community for nearby Marion, Fairmount is best known as the boyhood home of actor James Dean, who is buried there.
From the Wikipedia article Fairmount, Indiana (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Museums and landmarks3
Baldwin Addition Historic District
Monument and historic site · National Register of Historic Places
Historic district in Indiana, United States
Fairmount Commercial Historic District
Monument and historic site · National Register of Historic Places
Historic district in Indiana, United States
J.W. Patterson House
Monument and historic site · National Register of Historic Places
Historic house in Indiana, United States
Schools, colleges and libraries12
Virtual Preparatory Academy of Indiana At Madison-Grant 6-8
School · 2.6 mi
11580 S E 00 W, Fairmount
Virtual Preparatory Academy of Indiana At Madison-Grant 92
School · 2.6 mi
11580 S E 00 W, Fairmount
Virtual Preparatory Academy of Indiana At Madison-Grant K-5
School · 2.6 mi
11580 S E 00 W, Fairmount
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 part of the Indiana Gas Boom and a center of the glass industry for the rest of the 19th 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 aunt and uncle, Ortense and Marcus Winslow, on a farm north of Fairmount. He attended Fairmount High School, graduating in 1949. After his death in 1955, Dean was buried in Park Cemetery. In 1996, a small Memorial Park north of the town's business district was dedicated in his memory with a bronze bust by Hollywood artist Kenneth Kendall.
The 1988 music video for British singer Morrissey's "Suedehead," directed by Tim Broad, was filmed on location in Fairmount, Indiana. The video is a tribute to his idol, James Dean, and features several of Dean's childhood haunts, including his family farm, high school, and gravesite at Park Cemetery
From the History section of Fairmount, Indiana on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Map of Fairmount
15 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Climate by month
Monthly table
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 33°F | 18°F | 2.9 in | 8.1 in |
| Feb | 37°F | 20°F | 2.1 in | 6.3 in |
| Mar | 48°F | 28°F | 2.9 in | 3.7 in |
| Apr | 61°F | 38°F | 4.1 in | 0.3 in |
| May | 72°F | 49°F | 4.8 in | 0.0 in |
| Jun | 81°F | 59°F | 4.4 in | 0.0 in |
| Jul | 84°F | 62°F | 4.3 in | 0.0 in |
| Aug | 82°F | 60°F | 3.9 in | 0.0 in |
| Sep | 77°F | 53°F | 3.4 in | 0.0 in |
| Oct | 64°F | 42°F | 3.1 in | 0.1 in |
| Nov | 50°F | 32°F | 3.3 in | 1.0 in |
| Dec | 38°F | 23°F | 2.6 in | 5.0 in |
U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 for Marion 2 N Hcn (11 mi away), NOAA NCEI.
People and cost of living
American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020-2024, U.S. Census Bureau. Estimates have margins of error, larger for small towns.
Disaster history
Grant County has had 15 federal disaster declarations since 2000, most often for severe storms.
- 2026-08-25: Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding (Flood)
- 2026-08-15: Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding (Flood)
- 2026-01-24: Severe Winter Storm (Winter Storm)
- 2023-04-15: Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes (Severe Storm)
- 2020-04-03: Covid-19 Pandemic (Biological)
- 2020-03-13: Covid-19 (Biological)
OpenFEMA disaster declarations summaries.
Getting there and nearby towns
Marion Municipal Airport (MZZ) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 5 miles away.
- Summitville 6 mi south, about 9 min by car
- Marion 9 mi north, about 15 min by car
- Alexandria 11 mi south, about 17 min by car
- Sweetser 12 mi northwest, about 20 min by car
- Elwood 14 mi southwest, about 23 min by car
- Yorktown 18 mi southeast, about 29 min by car
- Muncie 20 mi southeast, about 32 min by car
- Chesterfield 21 mi south, about 34 min by car
- Anderson 23 mi south, about 37 min by car
- Kokomo 25 mi west, about 41 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Local news
Headlines from INDB, the NEMICO news database.
Reviews, tips and questions
Loading what members have shared...
Sources and licences
- NCES EDGE (Public domain): public schools
- NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (Public domain): climate by month
- OpenFEMA (Public domain): disaster declarations
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- U.S. Census Bureau (Public domain): population, income, housing, education, commute
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website, landmarks and historic places
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- Fairmount-indiana-from-above, Unknown author, Public domain
- Fairmount Wesleyan Church, Nyttend, Public domain
- J.W. Patterson House in Fairmount, Nyttend, Public domain
- Fairmount Commercial Historic District, Nyttend, Public domain
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