W. Earl Britt, left, retired senior United States district judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, on Thursday stands with longtime Fairmont resident Jim Pate, who spearheaded the effort to erect a historical marker honoring Britt and older brother the late David M. Britt, former Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, an original judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals, and a justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.