“Dream as if you'll live forever, Live as if you'll die today.”- James Dean

May 15, 2019









“Dream as if you'll live forever, Live as if you'll die today.”- James Dean

There is a small town of about 2,500 people located just about an hour North of Indianapolis that somehow I had never taken the opportunity to visit, in spite of growing up and spending half my life in Indiana. With some time off from Indianapolis 500 activities and an urge to check out some interesting places while in Indiana, I decided to take a trip to Fairmount, Indiana.











Fairmount is most famous as the home of legendary iconic film star James Dean. Dean is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, “Rebel Without a Cause” (1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in “East of Eden” (1955) and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in “Giant” (1956).













Dean was the first actor ever to be awarded an Academy Award nomination after his death, when he was tragically killed in a horrific car crash in September, 1955. Even with his passing at the young age of only 25, Dean would become one of the most famous actors of all time and a cultural icon well beyond many other actors of his generation.









James Dean lived on a farm in Fairmount from the age of nine through his high school years. His mother passed away when he was nine and he was sent to be raised by his aunt and uncle. He attended Fairmount High School where he was an exceptional athlete, led the debate team and studied drama, acting in the school productions.









The thing about Fairmount is that like many small Indiana towns, it is virtually unchanged in some ways since the time that Dean lived there. The farm where Dean was raised is still an active farm and still run by his family members who seem to have saved every scrap of memorabilia from his youth until his untimely death and donated much of it to the Fairmount Historical Museum which houses an extensive collection of Dean artifacts.









It was my first and it was a top notch experience as it is still manned and run by volunteers who knew Dean or know his family and they offered tremendous insight in to the massive amount of artifacts that are there on display. From the first motorcycle he ever purchased, to his award nominations, childhood toys, clothing, props from his movies and more, the museum offers a dynamic insight into the man.







My next stop was at the nearby James Dean Gallery, which is a privately run operation that serves as museum/ massive gift shop with all manner of James Dean related items. Anything you might ever want related to the actor is available here and there is a ton more stuff on display reflecting his life and times and the history of Dean, Fairmount and even some material on another famous Fairmount citizen, Comic Strip creator James Davis of Garfield fame.







After those two stops, I spent some time just wandering along Main Street and through the small but quaint downtown of the town before driving out past the farm where Dean was raised. The volunteers at the museum had encouraged me to just stop and knock at the farmhouse as his family is willing to give tours and has even more memorabilia from his life, but I just did not feel too comfortable about that.







Instead I made a quick stop at Park Cemetery where Dean’s grave can be found. Small and fairly non-descript, the gravesite is nonetheless a popular site for fans and the curious to visit and small trinkets, flowers and such are almost always found there. It has become something of a tradition for female fans to kiss the headstone and it is covered in lipstick lip impressions.







https://www.jamesdeanartifacts.com/

https://www.jamesdeangallery.com/