Aerial view of Fairmont Nebraska looking west down Highway 6
Description
This 7" x 5-1/2" black and white photograph shows an aerial view with the town on the left side of the photograph and a grain elevator and farm land on the right.
When the railroad company had selected the sites of their stations, the site for the town of Fairmont was not on railroad land, so the company hired four men to take pre-emption claims on the land wanted for the town site. The men hired to live on the claims and "prove up" on them were George Enderly, James Seely, J.A. Crawford and Obediah Scott. Each filed on an 80 in, Sec 30, T8, R2W and built a house in the center of the section in April 1871. When title was secured, they deeded the land to the South Platte Land Company who had it surveyed into lots in October 1871 and sold these to the people. The town was comprised of 188.67 acres. At the same time, the first B & M train passed over this land and through the new site. This attracted many new settlers.
Fairmont Public Library/Fillmore County Historical Society
