Local city information for Martinsville, VA

Martinsville is an independent city surrounded by and the county seat of Henry County, Virginia, United States. The population was 15,416 at the 2000 census. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Martinsville with Henry County for statistical purposes. The paper clip-shaped Martinsville Speedway, the shortest track in NASCAR stock car racing and also one of the first paved "speedways", being built in 1947, is located just outside the city in the town of Ridgeway.

Martinsville is the principal city of the Martinsville Micropolitan Statistical Area, a micropolitan area that covers Henry County and the city of Martinsville. The micropolitan area had a combined population of 73,346 as of the 2000 census.

For Martinsville Tourism information see www.martinsville.com/tourism/

Martinsville was founded by American Revolutionary War General, Indian agent and explorer Joseph Martin, born in Albemarle County, whose plantation Scuffle Hill was located on the banks of the Smith River near the present-day southern city limits. General Martin and revolutionary patriot Patrick Henry, who lived briefly in Henry County and for whom the county is named, were good friends.

The city's chief industry for many early years was the manufacture of plug chewing tobacco. The Henry County area became known as the 'plug tobacco capital of the world.' In the wake of the collapse of the plantation economy following the Civil War, the local economy had been left reeling. Stepping into the breach were several thriving plug firms which sold their merchandise across the nation beginning in the nineteenth century.

Local families were heavily involved in these companies, bestowing their names on them and reaping sizeable profits until the early twentieth century, when the tobacco monopolies created by R.J. Reynolds and James Buchanan Duke bought out most firms. (In most cases, in bold anti-competitive moves, the two tobacco titans simply shut down their acquisitions overnight. The moves later prompted a U.S. government lawsuit against American Tobacco Company.) Among the earliest of these firms were D.H. Spencer & Sons and Spencer Bros. Other families soon joined in founding other early firms, including the Gravelys, the Comptons, the Ruckers, the Wittens, the Lesters and the Browns.

The city's main industry for a century was furniture construction, and today Virginia furniture makers still reside in the region. Shortly after World War II, DuPont built a chemical manufacturing plant. The booming chemical industry led to Martinsville declaring itself an independent city in 1928, while still retaining its status as county seat.

DuPont later built a large manufacturing plant for producing nylon, a vital war material, which made the city a target for strategic bombing during the Cold War. This nylon production jump-started the growth of the textiles industry in the area. For several years Martinsville was known as the "Sweatshirt Capital of the World." In the early 1990s, changing global economic conditions and new trade treaties made Martinsville textiles and furniture manufacturing economically unsustainable. Many firms closed shop and laid off thousands of workers. Currently, the city is repositioning itself long-term as a center for technology development and manufacturing. Due to the local government's inability to fund certain services, in the near future the city of Martinsville may decide to legally convert into the town of Martinsville.

Recently, MZM, Inc. opened a facility in Martinsville as part of the Cunningham Scandal. It has been alleged that illegal contributions were made to US Representative Virgil Goode's campaign for the purpose of securing government funding to open the facility.

The lone high school within the Martinsville City School District is Martinsville High School which averages about 900 students. Its mascot is the bulldog and the school colors are red and white. The school's varsity men's basketball team competes in the Virginia AA High School division and won its most recent state championship in March 2006. This victory makes Martinsville High School the only high school in the Commonwealth of Virginia to win 13 state titles. The high school has the second highest teen pregnancy rate in the state, along with the highest STD rate. This caused the high school to make contraceptives available in school. The Martinsville City Public Schools system has 1 high school, 1 middle school, 2 elementary schools, and 1 preschool.

Additionally, there is a private PS-12 school near Martinsville in Henry County, Carlisle School. The school serves approximately 600 students, about 130 of them high school students.

Martinsville is also home to the Virginia Museum of Natural History, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and founded by Martinsville native Dr. Noel Boaz, and Piedmont Arts Association, an affiliate of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Memorial Hospital of Martinsville serves the greater Martinsville and Henry County area. The earliest local hospital was the 50-bed Shackelford Hospital, founded by Dr. Jesse Martin Shackelford, who was later joined by surgeon son Dr. John Armstrong Shackelford, an early graduate of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Founder of the Hospital Association of Virginia, Dr. Jesse Shackelford was an early advocate of comprehensive care for state citizens. Shackelford Hospital was sold in 1946, and Martinsville General Hospital subsequently opened with Dr. John Shackelford as its first chief surgeon. In 1970 Memorial Hospital of Martinsville opened its doors, replacing Martinsville General.

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