Fairmont City

About Fairmont City, Illinois

Facts, Trivia and useful information

Elevation: 420 ft (128 m). Population 2,635 (2010).
Time zone: Central (CST): UTC minus 6 hours. Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5).

Fairmont City is located in Madison County close to the Mississippi River in Southwestern Illinois, (Map of Fairmont City).

History of Fairmont City

What is now Illinois has been inhabited for at least 12,000 years, since the end of the last Ice Age. For more details on the town's early history a read here.

It originated in 1910, when the Pennsylvania Railroad built a roundhouse there. It later became a zinc trade center. Its original name was Willow Town. Located on strategic Route 40 it provided services to those using it. Later U.S. 66 was aligned with U.S. 40.

Hotels and Motels: Fairmont City, Illinois

Accommodation and hotels in Fairmont City

More Lodging near Fairmont City along Route 66

More motels and Hotels close to Fairmont City and Route 66

The Weather in Fairmont City

Rainfall in Fairmont city averages 41 in. (1.041 mm) per year. The most rainy months are from May through July with more than 4.1 in per month (104 mm). Snow falls from Nov. to Apr.: 17.8 in. (45 cm). Relative humitiy is on average 69.7% roughly the whole year.

The town has four clearly defined sesons and it is located in the area where humid continental climate shifts towards a humid subtropical climate, so summers are hot and humid while winters are cold. It gets cold Arctic air and hot damp tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico. Spring is wet and may have extreme weather (tornados, thunderstorms and even winter storms). Fall is sunny and less humid, with mild weather.

The average winter high (Jan) is a chilly 39.9°F (4.4°C) and the winter low is on average 23.7°F (-4.6°C). The summer (Jul) average high is 89.1°F (31.7°C) and the average low is 71°F (21.7°C).

Tornado risk

Fairmont City may be hit by some 7 tornados every year.

Tornado Risk: read all about Tornado Risk on Route 66.

Route 66 Sights in Fairmont City

Landmarks and Places to See

Getting to Fairmont City

Drive to Fairmont City using Historic Route 66 or by the freeways (I-55, I-64 and I-255, I-70 or I-270). US 40 and State Hwy, 111 go through the town.

Attractions: Drive along Route 66

Rittenhouse does not mention Fairmont City in his 1946 "Guidebook to US 66" because the road through Fairmont wasn't Route 66 at that time (only US40). He took the bypass alignment from Mitchell west, across the Chain of Rocks Bridge and then along BYP 66 north and west of St. Louis.

At that time, Route 66 barely grazed western Fairmont as you can see below. Only in the 1950s was the higway aligned south of Hamel through Troy, Collinsville and then together with US 40, along Collinsville Road through town.

This is the Map with directions of the 4.2 mile-long segment of US 66 in Fairmont.

Drive into Fairmont from the west, along Route 66, which with what is now Historic Route 40, circled the town on its northern side. You will see some motels and a neon sign:

First landmark:

Old Gas Station?

3403 Cookson Rd & 3401 Collinsville Rd.

To your right, on the Southeast corner is a building, currently a store named "Bravo License", this is its street view which probably was a gas station.

Further east, to your right, just next to the Public Library is a Classic Neon Sign

Nite Spot Café

4448 Collinsville Road

The cafe, now closed sports a classic 1950s Neon Sign.

Just ahead (4700 Collinsville Rd.), to your right is the Indian Mound Motel, a 2 stars place that we haven't manage to verify if it is a 1950s classic.

Keep eastbound for a real 1950s Motel:

Former Rainbo Court Motel

5280 Collinsville Road, Fairmont City

You can Book a Room in the Royal Relax Inn

The present Royal Relax Inn used to be the Rainbo Court Motel & Restaurant, its postcard promoted its "35 Deluxe Units". Look at the now gone neon sign. The building is relatively unchanged since the 1950s. Whose postcard said it was in Collinsville despite being located in Fairmont City.

Here is the junction with State Hwy 111. and the road curves to take an eastern course. Ahead is the Royal Budget Motel, which has a vintage look to it (Street View).

This is the end of the Fairmont City segment, but you can keep eastbound to visit the Indian Mounds that are just ahead in Collinsville: Cahokia Mounds and Monk’s Mounds.

Historic Route 66 in Fairmont City, Illinois

Route 66 in Fairmont City

City 66 junction with Collinsville Rd in Fairmont City. A satellite view and the 1940 USGS Map
click on image for large Street View

US City 66 (shown in Green in the Map above), came from Mitchell where it split from the main US 66 which headed west towards the Chain of Rocks Bridge, which is shown in Pink in the map. At present I-270 Exit 4. The cut segments there are shown in Black).

This "City 66" then headed south along present MO-203 (Nameoki Rd.), turning into Granite City via Edwardsville Rd. and then south together with Alt US 67 along Mc Cambridge Ave. (now MO-203) and Madison Rd.

They continued southwards all the way to Collinsville Rd. The last segment of this section is now cut by I-55 Exit 4 exchange with MO-203 (shown in Black in the map). More about the junction with Collinsville Road below:

Collinsville Road Junction

This crossing is shown in the image (which includes the satellite view of its present appearance -red arrows show old roadbed, and a 1940 map of the USGS).

From I-70 you can see these "relict" segments of the former junction as shown in the image below with Red arrows:

US 66 from Edwardsville to Fairmont and E.St.Louis in 1949. USGS Map

From here Route 66 went west along Collinsville Rd., (there was no I-64 in those days) into East St. Louis, and at St. Clair Ave. went southwest along 10th Ave. (now a new railroad cuts the old alignment here - Black).

The 1949 USGS map shows Route 66 at that time, running north to Mitchell and then west to Edwardsville (red arrows), Fairmont City is beneath the lower left arrow.

Viaduct and Municipal Bridge

The Road kept on straight and now ends at a dead end on Baker Ave., but in those days it continued west, across the railroad yards on a steel viaduct pictured below and then crossed the Mississippi into St. Louis (Missouri), alongside the railway on the "Municipal Bridge" whose elevated viduct ended at S 7th St. (these viaducts and bridge are now cut off and are shown in Black in the Map above). From here it went down Chouteau Ave. (shown in Blue) to meet the other "City 66" alignment that came from Chain of Rocks Bridge in the north.

1950s Alignment

In 1954 a new alignment carried US 66 from Hamel through Collinsville and Fairmont, it is shown in Violet in the map. It remained as US 66 until 1977.

Sources

City website fairmontcityil.com

Banner image: Dead Man's Curve, Laguna New Mexico by Perla Eichenblat.