What to See in Fairmont - Top Sights and Attractions

Performing arts theater in Fairmont, Minnesota. The Fairmont Opera House in Fairmont, Minnesota was built in 1901. Frank A. Day, editor of the Fairmont Sentinel, prodded local businessmen to establish an opera house starting in 1899. The Fairmont Opera House Company acquired the land in July, 1901 and began construction. The first grand opening was on February 11, 1902, with the opening show being "The Chaperone" performed by the Frank L. Perley Singing Comedians. From 1902 through 1912, it housed a variety of events such as traveling stock companies, local talent shows, graduation ceremonies, musicals, conventions, and political meetings. In 1912, W.L. Nicholas and Billy Hay became the managers, changed its name to the Haynic Theater, and began to show movies there. In 1926, the house was remodeled to accommodate live stock companies, road shows, and movies. Billy Hay died in 1926, and the opera house was rechristened the Nicholas Theatre, with a grand opening on July 27, 1927. The 1927 opening introduced an organ by Marr and Colton, complete with sound effects such as drums, a xylophone, car horns, horses' hoof beats, cymbals, and other novelties. The Nicholas Theater was used exclusively as a movie house until 1980.

In July 1979, organizers led by Dr. Robert Arneson and his wife Mary began an effort to list the theater on the National Register of Historic Places, which was approved in February, 1980 by the Minnesota Historical Society. A nonprofit group bought the building for $51,000 in November 1980, and organized efforts to remodel and repair the building.^[1]

Edifice in Fairmont, Minnesota. Red Rock Center for the Arts is a historic structure located at 222 East Blue Earth Avenue, in Fairmont, Minnesota, United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 18, 1988 as the First Church of Christ, Scientist. It is now owned by Martin County, which leases it to the Martin County Preservation Association.

First Church of Christ, Scientist, Fairmont, was organized October 1, 1891, and the church edifice, designed by noted Minnesota architect, Harry Wild Jones was completed in 1898. Sioux quartzite blocks quarried in Minnesota were used for the walls. The massive blocks are called red rocks because of their color and this gave rise to the present name of the building.

In 1937, First Church sold the building to the Christian Church of Fairmont which sold it in 1988 to a businessman.

First Church of Christ, Scientist, Fairmont, had another church building built at 205 Albion Avenue (between Tilden and Forest streets), which was designed by noted Chicago architect, Charles Draper Faulkner in the Colonial Revival style. That building is now the Lakeview Funeral Home.

First Church of Christ, Scientist, Fairmont, is no longer in existence.^[2]

Building in Fairmont, Minnesota. The Martin County Courthouse is the county courthouse for Martin County, Minnesota. The building is located at 201 Lake Avenue on the western side of the city of Fairmont, on a hill overlooking Lake Sisseton. It is a Beaux Arts building featuring a high copper dome with four clock faces. The first floor was made out of Michigan sandstone. The second and third stories are built of Bedford limestone. The arched entrance is flanked by polished double Corinthian order columns and topped by a pediment.

The building is connected to the brick and concrete Martin County Security Building by skyway on second level, and by tunnel below ground, at basement level. The security building provides space for police and detention, and was designed by 1972.

The building is 79 feet (24 m) by 116 feet (35 m) and rises 50 feet (15 m) to the top of the roof, then 58 feet (18 m) to the top of the dome.^[3]

The Orville P. and Sarah Chubb House is a historic house in Fairmont, Minnesota, United States. Built in 1867, the Chubb House is the oldest residence standing in Fairmont, and the only surviving house known to have been built with brick from Fairmont's first brickyard. It was the home of prominent homesteader Orville Chubb, who was the community's first physician. The house is an example of a property associated with the early Yankee American development of southern Minnesota town sites. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 for having local significance in the theme of exploration/settlement. It was nominated for its connections to the founding of Fairmont and for representing the Yankee settlement of southern Minnesota towns.^[4]