Henry County, Virginia

Henry County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Martinsville
Year Organized: 1777
Square Miles: 382

Court House:

P.O. Box 7
County Courthouse
Collinsville, VA 24078-0007

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Henry is named for American Revolutionary Patrick Henry.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Henry County, Virginia formed from Pittsylvania and Patrick Counties. Legislative enactment in 1776. Organized in 1777. Patrick County gave only a small portion in 1857/58. [Virginia Counties: Those Resulting from Virginia Legislation, by Morgan Poitiaux Robinson, originally published as Bulletin of the Virginia State Library, Volume 9, January, April, July 1916, reprinted 1992 by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD.]

Henry County was named for Patrick Henry, revolutionary leader and the first governor of the commonwealth of Virginia. It was formed from Pittsylvania County in 1776. Its area is 385 square miles, and the county seat is Martinsville.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 384 square miles (996 km²), of which, 382 square miles (990 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (5 km²) of it (0.53%) is water.

Districts

The county is divided into six supervisor districts: Blackberry, Collinsville, Horsepasture, Iriswood, Reed Creek, and Ridgeway.

Neighboring Counties:

Franklin County, Virginia - north
Pittsylvania County, Virginia - east
Rockingham County, North Carolina - south
Stokes County, North Carolina - south-southwest
Patrick County, Virginia - west

Cities and Towns:

- Ridgeway

town

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Penn Foster High School

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