Place Where You Live:

Fairmont, North Carolina

Head south down I-95 from the city of Lumberton, North Carolina located in Robeson County and you will come across a green road sign on your right that says Rowland 18 miles and Fairmont 15 miles. Those 15 miles are slowly approaching; you see an exit sign that reads exit 10 at the top and in the center of the sign it reads in bold white letters Historic Downtown Fairmont. You exit off and take a left onto Chicken Road; this road will eventually merge into Turkey Branch Road. Take Turkey Branch Road until you reach the intersection of Turkey Branch and Highway 41. Take a right onto Highway 41; after about 2 miles you will enter Historic Downtown Fairmont.

Back in the earlier years, this was a place of business. Farmers were steady coming and going through this little town. But crime and drugs has turned this once promising town around. Festivities such as the Farmer’s Festival Parade and the newly introduced May Day cannot be enjoyed due to the possible chance of gun violence.

Now do not get me wrong, there are still some fine folks who reside in this town. It is nothing to stroll through Main Street of Fairmont and enter Sheer Quest Barber Shop and see the owner Sam giving much needed advice to the youth in the community or just talking to a client about going fishing. Though it is not the busy little town it uses to be, it still allows tourists a chance to play golf or visit the Border Belt Tobacco Market. Three schools reside in the proximity of downtown Fairmont, and they are Rosenwald Elementary, Fairmont Middle, and Fairmont High School. These three schools have produced some promising individuals, but this town has also brought down some individuals with promise and kept them from reaching their true potential. But this town gives you the opportunities to learn lessons from it. From the childhood to the teenage years I spent here, it as allowed for me to take up for my town no matter how much negative publicity it gets.