The James Dean Museum

If you"re a James Dean fan or if you don"t know much about him but you"re curious to learn more, you need to make this excursion and visit this incredible museum.
James died tragically young and he had a very short career, but his talent left a lasting impression and created a legacy that"s unmatched.
His talent in the arts and in racing were incredible, and if you want to learn about either/both, they have tons of info and real memorabilia from James" family"s personal collection here that touch on those themes, as well as lots of info from his childhood into high school, and some from his personal life before his death.
Our docent was passionate about Jimmy and spoke of him like he was an old friend, which gave the tour a nice touch. The admission fee of $5 was extremely reasonable, too.

The James Dean Museum
My daughter and I made a special road trip in 1993 to visit James Dean"s childhood home, the cemetery where he"s buried, Fairmount Museum (now the James Dean Museum) and the James Dean Gallery. I have glossy photos. I wasn"t digital back then.

If you"re a fan of James Dean this place is a must visit. I was in a rough teen angst state when I saw the movie Rebel Without a Cause. In one scene he tells his parents looking at his father "you say one thing", (then looks at his mother), and says "you say another", then to both, "then you switch it all around again!" At that moment I had an out of body experience. Just how I felt, torn in half and angry since I was born. From then on I became the biggest fan. At one time when I owned a home the walls were covered with oil paintings and framed art all of James Dean. Every room had display cabinets with memorabilia. Nothing super valuable. Novelty items from my travels. I imagined charging admission one day to help me pay house tax! That was another lifetime ago.

Now I have four of my favorite framed posters on the wall. I still have an old trunk with small items. Maybe one Winter Day I"ll take photos. I love the little unusual collectibles I have left.
I hope I haven"t bored you. I guess I"m melancholy on his birthday. He was gone too soon. No one mentions his birth or death as was done a couple decades ago. I was a member of the fan club too. I wonder what happened to the fan club president. She lived in California. I still have her letters.
I don"t want to ever forget. The teenage Marianne full of frustration and anger is still a part of me. His expression of the emotions I felt as a teenager helped me realize I was not alone. I hope I"m still not alone.....

A wonderful museum to visit. It"s located in Fairmount, Indiana and there was a lot to see. I highly recommend it.

We visited Fairmount Historical Museum because one of my kids was doing a school project on famous Hoosiers, and he picked Jim Davis. With a little bit of online research, I found this museum that had some Jim Davis / Garfield memorabilia, so I thought this was a good opportunity to get in some hands-on learnin". Fairmount"s claim to fame is that it"s the hometown of cartoonist Jim Davis and actor James Dean, and this museum celebrates both famous men. A world-renowned cartoonist and a famous movie star who lived in Fairmount? That"s a lot of celebrity for a small town in the middle of Indiana!

The museum is housed in an old two-story house, and the Jim Davis section of the museum is relegated to one room. You"ll see some vintage Garfield plushies and toys, as well as photos of Jim Davis and some of his early sketches. I think we stayed in that room no longer than a couple of minutes -- that"s how small it was. But it"s nice that there is at least somewhere to go that"s all about Jim Davis and Garfield. It"s neat that someone took the time to set up this room.

The rest of the museum was dedicated to James Dean, with a bit of Fairmount history added, too. Which is cool, and there are some very interesting artifacts and collectibles to see. We didn"t visit for James Dean, though, so it was a little disappointing to see how small the Jim Davis section was compared to the James Dean section. So if you"re visiting to see Garfield things, just keep that in mind. That being said, if you"re into James Dean? Boy howdy, will you be in for a treat.

Admission for Fairmount Historical Museum is $5 per person, and kids are free. So this is definitely a place you want to visit, just for the fact that it"s so unique and contains so much Indiana history.

This little museum is a gem! While traveling in this area I planned to stop for the Jim Davis/Garfield display. This museum is an old restored home. We went on a Saturday afternoon and were the only ones there. The staff member was super welcoming and made us feel very welcome. Little did we know that the museum is mostly known for the large collection of James Dean memorabilia! I have to admit I I don"t know a lot about James Dean. But I found the collection very fascinating. I would encourage this museum be one of your added stops if you are in the area

Took a little road trip to for my son to see the Jim Davis exhibit. I wouldn"t say this is a historical museum as much as a James Dean Museum. The Jim Davis part was a small room but still very nice. The lady working there even brought out some books for my son to look at old articles for his school project. Parking is limited but wasn"t an issue. We went on a Saturday afternoon and there was only one other family in there.

Such a cool collection! Dorothy was well versed on all things James Dean and Garfield. Definitely worth the trip. Really great gift shop too!

I enjoyed the collection of artifacts from James Deans and Garfield the cat. Even though the Garfield collection was small, I really enjoyed it the most since I read the comic when I was young.

We really enjoyed the staff. They were very friendly and one had a personal connection to James Dean through her Dad. There was a motorcycle at the museum that she said James Dean would take her dad for a ride on while they were in high school together.

Another important pit stop for all things James Dean! This location has an abundance of James Dean"s personal effects as well as a variety of other incredible artifacts. You can definitely get up close to lots of Hollywood history. A must-see!

If a town is going to embrace its celebrities, then the Fairmount Historical Museum is setting the standard. Native son James Dean is the primary focus of the museum"s collection. Not only are there authentic items that were Deans (obtained mainly from his family), but everything is labeled and sometimes tells the story behind the piece.

Inside, visitors will see childhood items Dean played with, artwork he drew in high school, photos and items from his high school days as a basketball player. His short movie career is also well represented with his outfit from "Giant" as well as some personal items from his movie days.

There are two of Dean"s motorcycles on exhibit as well.

There is a room in the museum that is dedicated to artist/creator Jim Davis who gave us Garfield. Davis was also born in Grant County in nearby Marion. There are samples of the Garfield merchandise as well as information plaques about Davis.

The only thing missing in the museum is about the county"s history before James Dean became the game changing star. But with a limited amount of room and a wide variety of Dean and Davis items on hand, it"s hard to argue with the place"s choice to go with the popular exhibits.

Review #2565