Fairmont, Minnesota

Fairmont, Minnesota
City
Nickname:  City of Lakes
Motto:  A Fair Town with a Fair Mall.
Location of Fairmont, Minnesota
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
County	Martin
Area
• Total	16.5 sq mi (42.8 km2)
• Land	14.6 sq mi (37.7 km2)
• Water	2.0 sq mi (5.1 km2)
Elevation	1,184 ft (361 m)
Population  (2000)
• Total	10,889
• Density	747.5/sq mi (288.6/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP codes	56031, 56075
Area code	507
FIPS code	27-20330Template:GR
GNIS feature ID	0643501Template:GR

Fairmont is a city in Martin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 10,889 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Martin CountyTemplate:GR.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.5 square miles (42.8 km²), of which, 14.6 square miles (37.7 km²) of it is land and 2.0 square miles (5.1 km²) of it (11.86%) is water. The city of Fairmont itself has been built around a chain of five lakes: George Lake, Lake Sisseton, Budd Lake, Hall Lake, and Amber Lake. All except Amber Lake are connected by channels and are used extensively for recreational boating and fishing.

Interstate 90 and Minnesota State Highway 15 are two of the main routes in the city.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 10,889 people, 3 households, and 2,962 families residing in the city. The population density was 747.5 people per square mile (288.6/km²). There were 5,036 housing units at an average density of 345.7/sq mi (133.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.1% White, 0.4% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.9% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races.

There were 4,702 households out of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.0% were married couples living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.0% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.3% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 21.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 90.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,709, and the median income for a family was $46,637. Males had a median income of $31,365 versus $22,447 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,658. About 8.0% of families and 11.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.7% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

Key Industries

Fairmont has been home to Fairmont Railway Motors, Inc, now part of Harsco, for the best part of nearly a century.

The company pioneered motorised railway section cars, later road-rail technologies as well as track maintenance machinery that revolutionised and mechanised rail track engineering.

Fairmont products are exported around the world, although their dominant product, railroad speeders, are now mainly in the hands of railway enthusiasts who operate them for fun. See North American Railcar Operators Association, the NARCOA site and the ASSCO site for more information.

The Fairmont Sentinel, cited as the most conservative newspaper in Minnesota in issue 1065 of Rolling Stone Magazine, is published here.

Notable residents

• Jay Maynard, the internet celebrity known as "Tron-Guy".

External links

• Fairmont Information
• Fairmont Sentinel
• Fairmont Area Schools
• Fairmont Opera House
• Martin County Historical Society
• Wikitravel
• KFMC radio
• Harsco Track Technologies - formerly Fairmont Railway Motors Inc