Fairmont, North Carolina
Fairmont is a small town in Robeson County, North Carolina. It covers about 2.7 square miles and sits at an elevation of 118 feet. The ZIP code is 28340, and the area codes are 910 and 472. As of 2020, about 2,191 people lived there.
Fairmont began as Ashpole, named after the nearby Ashpole Swamp. It became Union City in 1899, changed back to Ashpole in 1901, and finally was renamed Fairmont in 1907. Early settlers received land from the Lords Proprietors and worked in logging and naval stores to produce lumber, turpentine, and pitch for ships. The Bufort County Lumber Company opened in the northern part of town in the late 1890s, employing hundreds of workers. A thriving tobacco market soon followed. By the early 20th century tobacco was the town’s main product, and by the 1940s Fairmont was nicknamed the Biggest Little Tobacco Market in the World. In 1951 Fairmont sold twice as much tobacco as all of Robeson County.
In 1989 the Border Belt Farmers Museum opened in a former railroad depot. The museum showcases farming and tobacco history and is open on a regular schedule.
Today Fairmont promotes itself as the shortest route to the South Carolina beaches, encouraging drivers on Interstate 95 to take exit 10. A large billboard supports this idea, helping bring in visitors and business. Scenes from the movie Arthur Newman were filmed in Fairmont. The Fairmont Commercial Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. The town sits in the Carolina Border Belt, a network of tobacco markets and warehouses along the North Carolina–South Carolina border.
According to the 2020 census, there were 2,191 people, 1,046 households, and 644 families in Fairmont. The population is mainly Black and White, with Native American residents and a small number of people who are Hispanic or Latino.
In the past, tobacco was the biggest crop, but many farmers now grow corn, soybeans, and wheat.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 20:22 (CET).