Fairmont really began to grow after the end of the "Great War", which we now call World War I. People like A. L. Jones were building houses for rent and others wanted to build their own homes. Looking to exploit this opportunity, I. Milton Thompson of the Baltimore community offered a 57-acre parcel of land for sale which was located one mile from downtown Fairmont on Iona Street. This was the first attempt to create a subdivision in Fairmont.

On September 10, 1919, the Edward Sandlin Realty Co. conducted an auction of 100 lots of this subdivision, which was located "on a high bluff on the main road" leading west from downtown Fairmont as noted in an advertisement in the Robesonian for the sale.

Eleven lots were sold at this sale, and Fairmont had been opened to westward expansion.