The Border Belt Farmers Museum was the brain child of local historian and WWII veteran Wiley R. Taylor, Jr. After the successful completion of writing the town’s history with the assistance of a committee Taylor  moved on to a project he had long eyed and actively sought, the conversion of the towns unused railroad depot into a museum highlighting Fairmont’s  historic connection to agriculture and particularly tobacco. This work began in 1988 and was completed in 1989. Community volunteers at first served as greeters leading tours through the many exhibits which featured lumber, cotton, and tobacco memorabilia. In 1998 a retired business woman, Lib Haywood, was hired as permanent curator and the museum was opened for tours on Monday,Wednesday, and Friday from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.  In January 2014 former Mayor Charles   Kemp joined Haywood on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 & 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

          The museum is housed inside the former railroad depot which was an integral part of the town’s past for 80 years. It was during the first few years of the 20th Century that the Atlantic Coast Line railroad placed tracks in the town to help ship lumber, cotton, and tobacco to manufacturing points in other areas of the state. It also provided a smaller transportation role for passengers both east and west of the community. As a result of the rapid growth in the production and sales of tobacco several major companies utilized the railroad to ship the golden leaf to their processing plants in Winston Salem and Durham. Tobacco grew to a top spot in the local economy as evidenced by the following statistics: In 1919 6.9 million pounds of tobacco were sold, $1.8 million was paid to farmers for a $26.34 per pound average. By 1951 58.7 million pounds were grown, $31.5 million was paid to farmers, for a $53.68 per pound average. This tremendous growth in tobacco pumped much needed money into the local economy and cemented tobacco as “king” in Fairmont. By 1955 the town had become known as the “biggest little tobacco market in the world” and was promoted avidly by tobacco sales supervisor Charlie Stafford who arrived from Clarksville Tennessee in 1937 to assume  this role. The town bustled with economic growth and commercial success throughout the 60’s and into the 70’s. With the advent of regulations curbing the appeal of tobacco and the demise of the textile industry

the railroad was no longer needed and the ACL removed the tracks in the 1980’s thus ending the need for the railroad depot.

           Today our Border Belt Farmers Museum & Welcome Center stands as a historical focal point for a community which boasts a proud connection with a rich agricultural past. Within its walls are hundreds of vivid exhibits of the lumber, cotton, and tobacco eras which proved successful in the community. Central among  the exhibits are cotton bales, large timber and milling saws, facades of tobacco barns, drags, stringing equipment, shipping barrels, and many posters and advertising signs. Also featured in the small meeting room of the museum are portraits and information about noted author and New Yorker magazine writer Joseph

Mitchell who was a native of Fairmont along with famed tobacco sales supervisor Charlie Stafford. Periodicals, scrapbooks, photographs, and much more literature round out the historic appeal of the facility. The museum also has memorabilia and souvenirs for sale.

            Tours can be on an individual basis during regular hours or by special arrangement for groups. Student tours are especially welcome. The museums parent organization, The Border Belt Historical Society, promotes a love of local history and has a membership of hundreds of local citizens. Recently new  directional signage to the facility has been erected, networking efforts to connect with museums around the state  and bus tour companies along the east coast have been made, and newly printed colorful brochures have been distributed statewide.  With the creation of this web site The Border Belt Farmers Museum & Welcome Center is opening its doors wide to all our history loving friends to visit and learn more about the rich agricultural past that we are proud of in Fairmont N. C. We hope to see you soon.