Martinsville, Indiana Martinsville, Indiana City of Martinsville Martinsville, Indiana Martinsville, Indiana Martinsville is a town/city in Washington Township, Morgan County, in the U.S.
State of Indiana. The populace was 11,828 at the 2010 United States Census.
The town/city is the governmental center of county of Morgan County. Martinsville was established in 1822. It is said to be titled for John Martin, a county commissioner. A postal service has been in operation at Martinsville since 1823. The Morgan County courthouse, instead of in 1859, features a red brick and Italianate design, and is one of the several pre-Civil War courthouses in Indiana.
Hodgson designed six Indiana courthouses including Jennings County (1859), Morgan County (1857), Henry County, Bartholomew County (1871), and his biggest in Marion County, in Indianapolis.
In 1899, Eugene Shireman, a Martinsville entrepreneur, turned his swamp territory into fisheries and started Grassyfork Fisheries. Once dubbed the "Goldfish Capital of the World", today Martinsville has a several large fisheries that sell fish to many parts of the world.
Shireman's actions changed the landscape of the Martinsville area, and his fisheries can be seen today throughout Shireman subdivision.
Martinsville is also home to other fisheries.
From 1888 until 1968, visitors sought out the many artesian mineral water community spas (which were called sanitariums then) of Martinsville for community benefits.
Over nearly 100 years, almost a dozen sanitariums were in operation for various periods of time, including the first black spa in Martinsville.
Albert Merritt (1871 1958), beloved founder of the Boy's Club in Martinsville, born near Bowling Green, was the son of former slaves.
He came to Martinsville Mineral Springs Sanitarium in the 1890s from a job as a porter at the Sennings Hotel in Louisville, and lived at the sanitarium for the rest of his life, never marrying.
He worked with the kids of Martinsville for fifty years, building a clubhouse on North Marion Street. Merritt Park on the northwest end of town is titled for Albert.
Many luminaries visited Martinsville in the early 20th century to appreciate the mineral waters and spas for their perceived therapeutic and community restoring qualities. On top of what used to be the National Sanitarium a refurbished neon sign still displays "Martinsville City of Mineral Water" as it did before. In recent years, Martinsville has an array of different businesses, with the court square precinct and downtown region being host to a number of locally owned restaurants, bakeries, and shops, and areas like the Grand Valley Shopping Center and Artesian Square being host to a number of restaurant chains and retail shops.
The Blackstone House and Martinsville Telephone Company Building, Crawford-Gilpin House, East Washington Street Historic District, Martinsville Commercial Historic District, Martinsville High School Gymnasium, Martinsville Northside Historic District, Martinsville Sanitarium, Martinsville Vandalia Depot, Morgan County Courthouse, Morgan County Sheriff's House and Jail, and Neely House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Historically, Martinsville was the place of some ethnic controversies, such as the 1968 murder of 20-year-old African American, Carol Jenkins, who was stabbed to death with a screwdriver while doing part-time work selling encyclopedias door-to-door.
Richmond was a close-by Hendricks County resident who was passing through Martinsville on the evening Jenkins was murdered. It was revealed that, following Carol's murder, Richmond laughed and said to his unknown accomplice, "She got what she deserved." In 2014, the Neals proposed a monument in Martinsville in Carol's memory.
The town committee voted to put it on the town square, but the plans were scrapped after the county commissioner, Norman Voyles, said he "started getting flack" about it.
Martinsville still fights its reputation for racism and prejudice, though many citizens living there say they welcome citizens from all competitions, sexual orientations, and religions.
An aerial photograph of Martinsville in June 2006, taken looking northwest.
According to the 2010 census, Martinsville has a total region of 4.508 square miles (11.68 km2), of which 4.49 square miles (11.63 km2) (or 99.6%) is territory and 0.018 square miles (0.05 km2) (or 0.4%) is water. According to the Koppen Climate Classification system, Martinsville has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. There were 4,610 homeholds of which 33.6% had kids under the age of 18 living with them, 44.0% were married couples living together, 14.3% had a female homeholder with no husband present, 6.5% had a male homeholder with no wife present, and 35.1% were non-families.
25% of inhabitants were under the age of 18; 10.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.8% were from 25 to 44; 24.4% were from 45 to 64; and 14.5% were 65 years of age or older.
There were 4,621 homeholds out of which 32.0% had kids under the age of 18 living with them, 50.8% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female homeholder with no husband present, and 33.2% were non-families.
In the city, the populace was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.1% who were 65 years of age or older.
About 8.7% of families and 11.6% of the populace were below the poverty line, including 12.8% of those under age 18 and 16.4% of those age 65 or over.
Martinsville on the Square The Metropolitan School District of Martinsville administers the enhance schools of Martinsville.
Elementary schools include Brooklyn Elementary, Centerton Elementary, Green Township Elementary, Paragon Elementary, Poston Road Elementary, Smith Elementary, and South Elementary.
There are two middle schools that serve grades 6-8, Martinsville Bell-East and Martinsville West.
Both feed into Martinsville High School. There is also Hammons off-campus improve school.
Martinsville has one private school, Tabernacle Christian School, which has classes for preschool through twelfth grade.
"Martinsville, Indiana".
Counties of Morgan, Monroe and Brown, Indiana: Historical and Biographical.
"Morgan County".
"Martinsville, IN : City of Mineral Water Sign".
"Monument for Martinsville murder victim rejected".
"Martinsville, Indiana Kppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)".
"Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015".
"Enumeration of Population and Housing".
"Morgan County Fair".
"Metropolitan School District of Martinsville".
Reporter-Times.com Martinsville's Daily Newspaper Greater Martinsville Chamber of Commerce Municipalities and communities of Morgan County, Indiana, United States
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Cities in Indiana - Cities in Morgan County, Indiana - County seats in Indiana - Indianapolis urbane area
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