Fairview

Fairview is located in northeastern Cullman County in the north-central part of the state. It has a mayor/city council form of government.

History

Settlers first arrived the Fairview area in the 1840s to establish farms. Originally called Lawrence Chapel after the local Methodist Episcopal church, the name was changed to Fairview after another Methodist Episcopal church, probably sometime in the late 1890s. The first postmaster in the area was John A. Donaldson, who had also established a post office in Arkadelphia, Cullman County, in 1855. Donaldson later served as a captain in Gen. Joseph Wheeler‘s Confederate cavalry detachment during the Civil War and would become the first school teacher in Fairview, as well, after the town organized a school.

By the turn of the twentieth century, the town had several sawmills and a general store, and the first cotton gin came in 1905. William Englehart built a summer resort hotel on the Mohr Farm that was popular for several years. The first telephone switchboard was installed in 1919, and the first high school opened in 1923 (a variety of other types of schools had served the community in earlier years). In 1921, the first vocational agriculture department in Cullman County was established in Fairview and played a vital role in the growth of the community. The high school was accredited by the State Board of Education in 1925. The second story of the school, along with the elementary school, were destroyed by a tornado in 1932. Fairview incorporated in 1968.

Demographics

Fairview’s population, according to 2016 Census estimates, was 492. Of that number, 90.7 percent of respondents identified themselves as white, 12.0 percent as Hispanic or Latino, 6.1 percent as two or more races, and 1.6 percent as Asian. The town’s median household income was $46,875, and the per capita income was $18,505.

Employment

According to the 2016 Census, the workforce in Fairview was divided among the following occupational categories:

  • Educational services, and health care and social assistance (24.0 percent)
  • Manufacturing (22.1 percent)
  • Arts, entertainment, recreation, and accommodation and food services (13.0 percent)
  • Construction (11.7 percent)
  • Retail trade (7.8 percent)
  • Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and extractive (5.8 percent)
  • Transportation and warehousing and utilities (5.8 percent)
  • Finance, insurance, and real estate, rental, and leasing (3.2 percent)
  • Other services, except public administration (1.9 percent)
  • Professional, scientific, management, and administrative and waste management services (1.9 percent)
  • Information (1.3 percent)
  • Public administration (1.3 percent)

Education

Students in Fairview attend Cullman County schools; no public schools are located within the town limits.

Transportation

State Highway 69 bisects Fairview running east-west; County Road 1527 bisects the town running northwest-southeast.

Events and Places of Interest

Fairview holds an annual Bluegrass Festival in July, with live bluegrass music, a jam session, and singing, that is held in Fairview Park.

Additional Resources

Cullman County Heritage Book Committee. The Heritage of Cullman County, Alabama. Clanton, Ala.: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 1999.

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