to
Update
is a town in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,604 at the 2000 census.
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 1800s, a thriving tobacco market had been established as well. The railroads later followed to rapidly move these goods. By the early 1900s, tobacco became king, and by the mid-1950s, 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.