Editing Martinsville, Indiana (section)

==History==
Martinsville was founded in 1822.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Blanchard |first=Charles |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_vyqC5iVmYtYC |title=Counties of Morgan, Monroe and Brown, Indiana: Historical and Biographical |publisher=F.A. Battey & Company |year=1884 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_vyqC5iVmYtYC/page/n85 81] |via=[[Archive.org]]}}</ref> It is said to be named for John Martin, a county commissioner.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gannett |first=Henry |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ |title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1905 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n200 201]}}</ref> A post office has been in operation at Martinsville since 1823.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Morgan County |url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=IN&county=Morgan&searchtext=&pagenum=2 |access-date=May 7, 2017 |publisher=Jim Forte Postal History}}</ref>

The [[Morgan County Courthouse (Indiana)|Morgan County Courthouse]], completed in 1859, features a red brick and Italianate design, and is one of the few pre-Civil War courthouses in Indiana. Architect [[Isaac Hodgson (architect)|Isaac Hodgson]] designed the courthouse, and it was built by Perry Magnus Blankenship. Hodgson designed six Indiana courthouses including [[Jennings County Courthouse]] (1859), Morgan County (1857), [[Henry County Courthouse (Indiana)|Henry County Courthouse]], [[Bartholomew County Courthouse]] (1871), and his largest in [[Marion County, Indiana|Marion County]], in [[Indianapolis]].

In 1899, Eugene Shireman, a Martinsville entrepreneur, turned his swamp land into fisheries and started [[Grassyfork Fisheries Farm No. 1|Grassyfork Fisheries]].<ref name="Grassyfork Fisheries">[https://web.archive.org/web/20040104180537/http://scican3.scican.net/vmc/fisheries/grsfrk.html Grassyfork Fisheries]</ref> Once dubbed the "[[Goldfish]] Capital of the World", today Martinsville has several large fisheries that sell fish to many parts of the world.<ref name="Bowman" /> 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 [[Martinsville Sanitarium|Martinsville's sanitaria]] for health benefits from their artesian mineral water. Over nearly 100 years, almost a dozen sanitaria were in operation for various periods of time, including the first black spa in Martinsville.

Albert Merritt (1871–1958), founder of the Boys' Club in Martinsville, born near Bowling Green, was the son of freedmen. 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 children of Martinsville for fifty years, building a clubhouse on North Marion Street.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Town: Martinsville |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~radiotv/wtiu/ourtown/martinsville.html}}</ref> Merritt Park on the northwest end of town is named for Albert.

Visitors would travel by rail and road to bathe and refresh in the mineral springs and waters. Many luminaries visited Martinsville in the early 20th century to enjoy the mineral waters and spas for their perceived therapeutic and restorative qualities.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20031228124654/http://scican3.scican.net/history2/photographs/san-dex.html Photographs of the sanitaria]</ref>
In 1892, the Old Hickory Furniture Company was formed.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927223658/http://scican3.scican.net/designing_place/old_hickory.htm Old Hickory]</ref> The Morgan County Public Library's Digital Archive has a collection of photographs of Old Hickory furniture including some displays for Marshall Field & Co.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Old Hickory Index - Morgan County Public Library |url=http://206.246.131.101/digital/Old_Hickory/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927110109/http://206.246.131.101/digital/Old_Hickory/index.htm |archive-date=2007-09-27 |access-date=2007-06-11}}</ref>

In recent years, Martinsville has an array of different businesses, with the [[Martinsville Commercial Historic District|courthouse square]] and downtown area 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. In 2014, a local judge upheld an effort by the city to annex sufficient land to increase the size of the city by a third, making I-69 the frontage road for the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hawkins |first=Ronald |date=January 17, 2014 |title=Judge OKs Martinsville annexation, which would make I-69 frontage road to city |url=https://indianaeconomicdigest.com/Main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=70&ArticleID=72907 |publisher=Indiana Economic Digest}}</ref>

More than a dozen Martinsville locations are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>

===Race relations===
Historically, Martinsville was the place of some racial controversies, such as the [[Murder of Carol Jenkins|1968 murder]] of 20-year-old African American Carol Jenkins, who was stabbed to death with a screwdriver while selling encyclopedias door-to-door.  Jenkins' murder remained unsolved for 33 years until Kenneth Richmond was arrested for the crime. Richmond was a [[Hendricks County, Indiana|Hendricks County]] resident who was passing through Martinsville on the night Jenkins was murdered.<ref name="wthr">{{Cite news |last=Chapman |first=Sandra |title=Monument for Martinsville murder victim rejected |url=http://www.wthr.com/story/24808351/2014/02/24/monument-for-martinsville-murder-victim-rejected-as-couple-speaks-out-in-exclusive-interview |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303205631/http://www.wthr.com/story/24808351/2014/02/24/monument-for-martinsville-murder-victim-rejected-as-couple-speaks-out-in-exclusive-interview |archive-date=2014-03-03 |work=WTHR}}</ref>  The white couple Don and Norma Neal, who called the police to try to help Carol a half-hour before she died, proposed a monument in Carol's memory on the courthouse grounds. The County Commissioners approved (2-1), the dissenting vote remarking it was the responsibility of the city not the county in the  location for the monument. When  many citizens contacted the commissioners later with similar feelings to that effect, the project was put on hold.<ref name="wthr" /> In November 2017, Martinsville partnered with Carol's hometown of [[Rushville, Indiana|Rushville]] to hold memorial events in Carol's honor with her family present. Martinsville also dedicated a monument in Carol's memory and presented a smaller replica of the stone to Carol's family.<ref name="Reporter-Times">url=https://www.reporter-times.com/free_access/a-day-of-healing-martinsville-holds-remembrance-event-for-jenkins/article_44fc17f8-33e8-5ca2-a30d-8f5b7bf23891.html</ref> That year, the ''[[The Indianapolis Star|Indianapolis Star]]'' reported that Martinsville still had a reputation among African Americans as a [[sundown town]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=King |first=Robert |date=April 2, 2017 |title=They're bridging a racial divide |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29386464/ |work=[[The Indianapolis Star|The Sunday Star]] |page=6A |via=Newspapers.com |quote=The deputy, D.J. Nuetzmann, grew up in Martinsville, a town with a tragic reputation for racism, a place many blacks still consider a 'sundown town' where it's best not to be caught after dark.}}</ref>

In 1998, high school basketball games in Martinsville between [[Martinsville High School (Indiana)|Martinsville High School]] and [[Bloomington High School North]] erupted in racist insults hurled at Bloomington players by Martinsville fans and assaults on two Bloomington players by Martinsville players.  [[Conference Indiana]] banned Martinsville from hosting conference games for a year, the highest penalty ever leveled in high school sports in Indiana.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wertheim |first=L. Jon |url=https://archive.org/details/transitiongameho00wert/ |title=Transition game : how Hoosiers went hip-hop |date=2005 |publisher=New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-399-15250-4}}</ref>

Many Martinsville residents dispute the reputation for racism and prejudice pointing out an annual award for service to the community named after  a beloved African American citizen, Albert Merritt,  who had a club for Martinsville boys in the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite web |title='We need to acknowledge it': Martinsville tries to remake its racist image |url=https://www.indystar.com/story/life/2017/11/02/martinsville-remakes-racist-image/775258001/ |access-date=2019-03-10 |website=Indianapolis Star |language=en}}</ref>