Book Description

Martinsville Memories by Stephen H. Provost examines the history of Martinsville, a town in southern Virginia. A town of fewer than 15,000 people, it's been the plug tobacco capital of the world and the sweatshirt capital of the world. It hosts two stock-car races each year at a speedway that holds four times that many people - the oldest on the NASCAR circuit. It's a place of verdant beauty and blue skies a few miles north of the North Carolina state line, in the Goldilocks zone: seldom too hot in summer or two cold in winter. It has thrived as the town with the nation's most millionaires per capita and struggled through factory closures during the era of globalization.Packed with more than 200 images, Martinsville Memories looks at the town from its beginnings through its is a textual and photographic look a diverse town built on tobacco, textiles and furniture that occupies a unique place in the nation's fabric and history. From its the town's historic beginnings through its 20th century prosperity, this volume offers a nostalgic trek through time, with stops at drive-ins, old hotels and iconic storefronts along the way. Martinsville Memories doesn't stop at the city limits, but gives the reader a tour of surrounding communities such Collinsville, Ridgeway, Bassett, Spencer and Axton, as well.With a foreword by author and Martinsville native Stephen Mark Rainey, Martinsville Memories captures the triumphs and struggles of a city at the heart of the South and the soul of America.