Stuart, Virginia

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Stuart, Virginia
settlement_type = Town
nickname =
motto =

imagesize = 250px
image_caption =


image_

mapsize = 250px
map_caption = Location of Stuart, Virginia


mapsize1 =
map_caption1 =

subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = Virginia
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Patrick

government_footnotes =
government_type =
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Jimmy McHone
leader_title1 =
leader_name1 =
established_title = Founded
established_date = 1792

unit_pref = Imperial
area_footnotes =

area_magnitude =
area_total_km2 = 1.9
area_land_km2 = 1.9
area_water_km2 = 0.0
area_total_sq_mi = 0.7
area_land_sq_mi = 0.7
area_water_sq_mi = 0.0

population_as_of = 2000
population_footnotes =
population_total = 961
population_density_km2 = 502.5
population_density_sq_mi = 1301.5

timezone = Eastern (EST)
utc_offset = -5
timezone_DST = EDT
utc_offset_DST = -4
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m = 410
elevation_ft = 1345
latd = 36 |latm = 38 |lats = 25 |latNS = N
longd = 80 |longm = 16 |longs = 26 |longEW = W

postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 24171
area_code = 276
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 51-76256GR|2
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 1500182GR|3
website = http://www.patrickchamber.com/
footnotes =

Stuart is an town in and the county seat of Patrick County, Virginia, United States.GR|6 The population was 961 at the 2000 census. The town was named for Confederate General J. E. B. Stuart, who was born in nearby Ararat, Virginia.

History

Incorporation (1753-1830)

The Town of Stuart was incorporated formerly as Taylorsville, Virginia, in 1792, in honor of Revolutionary War hero George Taylor. Stuart has been the county seat of Patrick County since the county's inception from Henry County, Virginia in 1791. With the courthouse at its center, the Stuart Uptown Historic District encompasses the historic core of the county seat and includes government, financial, religious, and commercial buildings dating from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries.

"The Stuart Train Depot, circa 1895"

"Courtesy of Anthony C.White"

Antebellum (1831-1860)

By 1850, Taylorsville had grown to include approximately 50 dwellings and businesses. The 1850 census reported 18 households with 50 adults (including 29 boarders) and 60 children living in the area of the courthouse. Occupations listed included four farmers, two innkeepers, three merchants, attorneys, two physicians, two cabinetmakers, two saddlers, one harness maker, three tailors, one bricklayer, nine laborers, a clerk, a mail carrier, and a sheriff with two deputies. The Danville and Wytheville Turnpike, following present-day Route 8, was established in the 1850s. In 1848, the Richmond and Danville Railroad was chartered, and tracks were completed to Danville by 1856.

War, reconstruction and growth (1860-1916)

Following the economic difficulties of the war, the residents of Taylorsville focused their energies on expanding railroads to boost the economy. The Danville and New River Railroad was chartered in 1873, with the line completed to Martinsville, Virginia in nearby Henry County by 1881. In 1883, citizens of Patrick County approved a bond of $150,000 to expand the line. The first train pulled into Taylorsville in August 1884. With the growth associated with the railroad, Taylorsville was incorporated as a town in 1884 and was renamed Stuart in honor of Confederate Major General J.E.B. Stuart, who was born 20 miles west of town in Ararat, Virginia.

Following the completion of the railroad, the town of Stuart continued to grow steadily. The population increased 25% from 300 in 1884 to 371 in 1900. While occupations continued to center around the courthouse activities and the typical needs of a community, the 1900 census reflects the influence of the railroad by citing four railroad employees, eight salesmen, one insurance agent, one mining engineer, and one timber dealer. Five teachers, three hotels, two druggists, and two bartenders also indicate the growth of the town. The construction of the railroad led to the distinction of "uptown" and "downtown" Stuart, since the original courthouse village was situated at the crest of a hill and an industrial and commercial area developed adjacent to the railroad, which was located further downhill along the Mayo River. "Uptown" continued to serve as the center of the town with the courthouse, churches, school, attorneys' offices, banks, hotels, and stores. The two areas, however, were closely related and interdependent as is evidenced by the town's first telephone line at the turn of the twentieth century being run between the railroad depot downtown and the Hotel Perkins uptown.

World War I to World War II (1917-1945)

Before 1915, no public water or sewer system was available, and water came from private wells or from nearby springs. There were no streetlights, and oil lamps were used for interior lighting, the roads were unpaved and the sidewalks were wooden. After the water system was installed, it was well received, but by 1926 the population of the town had increased so much that improvements needed to be made. In 1916, the Clark Power and Light Company established the first electric light system in Stuart. Each customer was charged a flat rate of $1.25 per month, and if 300 citizens bought into the system, Clark would allow the lights to burn all night. The Stuart Power and Light Company bought them out, and they were then sold to the Virginia East Coast Utilities Company, and in 1938, the Appalachian Electric Power Company bought them out. Joseph H. Vipperman, a Stuart native, was the president of this company when its name was changed to American Electric Power. The first telegraph came to Stuart with the railroad in 1884, and reportedly the first telephone was operated at the Hotel Perkins. By 1923, ten lines served the county, each with a central; the Stuart central was located in the home of Walter S. Gilbert. In 1937, the Lee Telephone Company acquired all the private lines. In 1974, the Central Telephone Company of Virginia bought out the Lee Company, after that, Sprint/Centel bought them out and now Embarq serves Patrick County.

Travel to Stuart was difficult until the first hard-paved road reached Stuart from Martinsville in 1925. In 1929, a nine-mile stretch from Stuart to the state line of North Carolina south was covered. In 1930, the three miles to Cruzes (Cruises) Store was paved, and in 1932, the road was extended to Hillsville, Virginia. Today, State Routes 8 and 58 serve the town and the county as well as other numerous counties along its east-to-west stretch. Today, Route 58 is a four-lane divided highway, crossing the entire Commonwealth, as well as Patrick County.

By 1940, the population of Stuart had increased to 600 and the majority of the buildings standing today were already constructed. The Patrick County Bank (established in 1890 and later merged with the Bank of Stuart in 1926) constructed its large Classical building directly across from the courthouse in 1911. The two uptown churches, Stuart United Methodist Church and the Stuart Baptist Church, constructed their present-day structures in the early twentieth-century

Geography

Stuart is located at coor dms|36|38|25|N|80|16|26|W (36.640197, -80.273940)GR|1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.7 square miles (1.9 km²), all of it land.

The town of Stuart is a hilly community within a small valley surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Mayo River runs through the heart of town, down through Patrick County.

Climate

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 961 people, 449 households, and 246 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,301.5 people per square mile (501.4/km²). There were 516 housing units at an average density of 698.8/sq mi (269.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 81.89% White, 15.09% African American, 2.08% from other races, and 0.94% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.68% of the population.

There were 449 households out of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.9% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.0% were non-families. 42.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the town the population was spread out with 22.4% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 19.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 85.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $20,192, and the median income for a family was $35,000. Males had a median income of $29,375 versus $19,938 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,265. About 21.3% of families and 24.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.2% of those under age 18 and 20.1% of those age 65 or over.

ister City

Although neither is a city, the towns of Stuart and Farmville are what many consider Sister Cities.fact|date=August 2007 Each year, town officials from each locality visit the other.

Education

The Patrick County Public School System offers six elementary schools and one high school, with Stuart Elementary School and Patrick County High School lying within the town's boundaries. The high school, which servers approximately 1,000 students in grades 8-12, is fully accredited with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Stuart Elementary provides a pre-kindergarten to seventh grade level education for approximately 500 students each year. The school constantly ranks in the top schools in Virginia in the S.O.L. Testing program, as well as many other areas of academic excellence.fact|date=August 2007 It recently became the District and Regional Academic Champions, as well as winning other titles throughout the academic and sports fields, such as Regional Cross Country Champions.fact|date=August 2007

Public Services

The town of Stuart has the first hospital in the Commonwealth of Virginia to be designated as a Critical Access Hospital. Publics water and sewer services are offered to residents in the Stuart-Patrick Springs area through the Stuart Water and Sewer Plant, as well as a public waste field just outside of town. The town does not offer an airport. The local media outlets are the 1270 AM WHEO Radio Station, Cable 5 TV, and "The Enterprise", the town's weekly newspaper.

tuart Town Website

Click here for the official Town of Stuart webpage- [http://www.townofstuartva.com/]

Notable events and residents

Stuart has an annual festival, the "Easter Brothers' Homecoming Gospel Sing", held every July in Dominion Valley Park. The celebration is in honor of a local group that gained national fame, the Easter Brothers. [Fussell, pg. 131] Stuart also hosts the oldest continuous beach music festival on the East Coast, "Hot Fun in the Summertime" presented by the Virginia Jaycees. Other major attractions include the Virginia Peach Festival, The Stuart Apple Dumpling and Strawberry Festivals, The 4th of July Celebration, The Patrick County Fair, and the annual musical events featured on the Crooked Road Music Trail.

Notable residents

* Wood Brothers, the NASCAR team
* Judge Martin Clark, novelist
* Governor Gerald Baliles
* Mary Sue Terry, the first female Attorney General
* Brad Clontz, professional baseball player

References

Further reading

* cite book
author=Fussell, Fred C.
id=080785459X
publisher=North Carolina Folklife Institute
title=Blue Ridge Music Trails: Finding a Place in the Circle
year=2003

External links

* [http://www.freestateofpatrick.com Patrick County History]