Henry County, Virginia
| Henry County, Virginia | ||
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 Location in the U.S. state of Virginia |
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 Virginia's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | 1777 | |
| Named for | Patrick Henry | |
| Seat | Martinsville | |
| Largest town | Ridgeway | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 384 sq mi (995 km2) | |
| • Land | 382 sq mi (989 km2) | |
| • Water | 2 sq mi (5 km2), 0.5% | |
| Population (est.) | ||
| • (2015) | 51,881 | |
| • Density | 135/sq mi (52/km²) | |
| Congressional districts | 5th, 9th | |
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 | |
| Website | www |
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Henry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 54,151. The county seat is usually identified as Martinsville; however, the administration building (where county offices are located and where the board of supervisors holds meetings) and county courthouse are located in Collinsville.
Henry County is part of the Martinsville, VA Micropolitan Statistical Area.
The county was established in 1777 when it was carved from Pittsylvania County. The new county was initially named Patrick Henry County in honor of Patrick Henry, who was then serving as the first Governor of Virginia, and some of whose relatives had settled in the area. Governor Henry also had a 10,000-acre (40 km2) plantation called "Leatherwood plantation" (for Leatherwood Creek) in the newly named county (where he ended up spending 5 years between his third and fourth gubernatorial terms).
In 1785 the northern part of Patrick Henry County was combined with part of Bedford County to form Franklin County. In 1790, Patrick Henry County was split again: the western part became Patrick County and the rest remained Henry County.
Other notable early settlers included: George Waller,Captain George Hairston and Major John Redd, all of whom were present at the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown; Col. Abram Penn, a native of Amherst County, Virginia, who led his Henry County militia troops with the intention of joining General Nathanael Greene at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse during the Revolutionary War; and Brigadier General Joseph Martin, for whom Martinsville is named. Also prominent were Mordecai Hord, a native of Louisa County and explorer, who lived on his plantation called Hordsville; and Col. John Dillard, born in Amherst County, Virginia in 1751, wounded at the Battle of Princeton during the Revolution, and later a member of the Committee of Safety. Captain Robert Hairston, a noted politician in the Colony of Virginia, owned Marrowbone plantation, commanded a militia company and served as Henry County's first high sheriff.
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Wikipedia