There are a few members of the team that I don’t recognize. I offer my apologies in advance. Leave a comment with the name of the unknown player if you recognize someone who has not been identified.

Front row (l-r) – #25 Randall Tedder, #39 Bruce Sealey, #25 Johnny Joyner, #35 Jetter Lewis, #17 Edwin Lewis, #15 Tommy Grooms, #24 Chuck Coleman, # 16 ?, #23 Shep Oliver. Second Row (l-r) #27 Wayne Bray, #33 Ray Lupo, #32 Robbie Inman, #14 David E Ford, #21 John Lewis, #30 Wimpy McDaniel, #45 Ricky Henderson, #36 Ronald Callahan, #34 Carey Faulk. Back Row (l-r) #21 Ronnie Leggett, #22 Shelton Hayes, #29 Sonny Stanfield, #18 Stanley Ford, #43 Paul Thompson, #32 Abner Harrington, #28 Edwin Leggett, #30 ?, #23 Stuart Callahan, #27 Bobby Owens.

Shown above is a transfer machine operated by the Beaufort County Lumber Company. This company came to Fairmont shortly after the railroad arrived and operated until the early 1930’s, the darkest part of the Great Depression. They operated their own narrow-gage railroad and a kiln for drying their finished product. The general location of this enterprise was west of Main Street in north Fairmont. Please feel free to contribute additional information that you have by using the comments section below.

This postcard and thousands more like it can be found in the UNC Online Library by googling NC Historic Postcards.

Coach Tommy Owen passed away on June 30,2010 in Levine-Dickson Hospice House in Huntersville, NC. He was 78.

Coach Owen (shown above, on the left)  began his tenure at Fairmont High School in August, 1963. He served as Athletic Director, head football coach, head basketball coach and golf coach through the 1966-67 school year. Additionally, he taught PE, drivers education and was guidance counselor.

Though his football teams lacked size and blazing speed, they posted records of 6-4, 8-2, 8-2 and 6-3-1. His last two basketball teams marked the beginning of the strong basketball tradition that still remains today, going 17-5 and 22-4 during those seasons. He organized and coached FHS’s first golf team in the spring of 1966.

Those are the facts but they don’t tell the whole story. He enjoyed his players and tried to be aware of what was going on in their lives. If you had a problem you could always talk to Coach about it and not worry about it becoming public. He kept his promises and honored his commitments.

Many of us who knew him remember his love of Johnny Mathis music. I believe that he had every album that Johnny made and he sang along with Johnny before and after practice each day. At his memorial service on July 10 the prelude music and recessional was, fittingly, Johnny Mathis music.

Thanks, coach, for teaching me to drive responsibly. Thanks for teaching me how to tape an ankle. Thanks for teaching me how to organize and prioritize. Thanks for teaching all of us in Fairmont how a winner is supposed to conduct himself.

Rest in Peace.

One cannot overstate the importance of the Ashpole Institute to the founding of Fairmont. The institute predates the town by 20 years. Shown here is an 1886 photo of the institute courtesy of the First Baptist Church, South Main St.

While this may not be the first band at Fairmont School it was certainly one of the first. See how many of these gentlemen you can name. Mr Ponish (back row, center) is the director and taught with his wife at Fairmont School for many years. Thanks to Mrs. Sandra Mitchell for allowing us to use this photo which includes her father, Woodrow Smith (back right).

Others are Willie Broox Webster (drums), Wilton Baxley (violin, rt. of Webster), Curtis McGirt (clarinet), Milton Teague (back row, left, with trumpet), Dan Inman (beside Teague), Daniel(?) Traynham (with saxaphone, rt. of Ponish), and C. P. “Jack” McGirt (with baritone).

This photo from the P. R. Floyd family collection is one of my favorites because almost everyone has been identified. Mrs. Janet Floyd took the time to identify everyone on the back of the photo. That was so unusual that I made a copy of that and included it here.

As always your comments are actively solicited. Your participation improves this site for all who come to view it.

No matter the name — Otha’s Place or The Richfield — three generations of teenagers and young adults went there. First operated by Otha Perry before, during and just after World War II, it was the place to meet your friends in Fairmont. From what I’ve been told the food was good too!

As you can see in the above photo, Otha Perry, the older man surrounded by a bunch of young guys, was well-liked buy all. He was rough and tough with a heart of gold. At one time I could name everyone in the photo but now I’ve forgotten three or four of them. In any event here are the ones that I’m able to remember. You pick them out — Willis Grey Perry (Ham), James (Rusty) Perry, David Musselwhite, Gaston Floyd, Alton Parker, Glen Smith, Garth Lewis, Bobby Jones, Wayne Floyd, Maurice Prevatte, Billy Pender Mitchell, George Kelly Ashley, C. W. McCormick and Lester Hardin. Please forgive me for not remembering the others.

When Ernest Davis began running the eatery it was known as The Richfield. There was, for a time, a covered outside area of about 10′x12′ with a juke box. As a kid I wanted to be old enough to be able to go there by myself! Life’s great ambitions . . .

If anyone has a photo or anecdote about The Richfield that they would like to share on this web site, please leave a comment below.

UPDATE — With the help of an old yearbook the missing have been identified as Edwin Floyd and Byron Tedder.

Perhaps the oldest continuing business on Main Street is the barber shop (now Mur Les Salon). The building was build in 1921 by Dr. John P. Brown and has housed a barber shop continuously since then. This photo, made in the late 1920’s, shows a five-man shop. The owner at that time was Sandy McCormick, pictured beside the very back chair. The other barbers are (back to front) Red Huggins, Raymond Sessoms, unknown and John Musselwhite, father of current owner David Musselwhite who made the photo available.

From the Floyd family collection, made available by “L” Floyd, unloading cotton near the railroad depot. Note the rough timber in the foreground. We believe that the photo was made at about the time that the railroad was being built through Fairmont.

If you have additional information please leave a comment below and share it with us.

In 1960 the Fairmont Pool opened on Murphy Street on land formerly owned by the Wiley Taylor family. This photo, made in 1964, shows those who won ribbons in a meet conducted at the pool. How many can you name? Use the comments form below and I will post the results.