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Residential
Development
Martinsville was settled in 1822. The earliest
residents built log houses on or near the courthouse square. It was the
center of town and the center of activity, and people tended to live near
their businesses and close to neighbors. In the very early years, there must
have been steady building and constant change, as temporary log buildings
were gradually replaced by more significant and substantial ones.
By the 1850s, Martinsville's founding settlers would
scarcely have recognized the town, but they surely would have been proud to
see how the pioneer community had evolved. Fine brick buildings nearly
filled the downtown, which was anchored by the stately courthouse.
Commercial buildings were occupied by retail businesses necessary to support
a growing community. There were also several fine homes, including that of
Hannibal Stevens at the southeast corner of Main and Washington Street.
Years later it was remodeled into the commercial building that houses DeLynn
Jewelry and the pool store today.
As Martinsville expanded, residential neighborhoods
developed distinct identities. The
East Washington Street and
Northside
neighborhoods, which were listed on the
National Register of Historic
Places in 1997, were the areas of choice for the city's upwardly mobile
businessman and professionals. They built fine houses in the latest styles,
often remodeling them as newer styles came into fashion. Building materials
are substantial, including brick, stone, slate roofs, and ironwork. The
streets themselves were relatively wide, lined with sidewalks and tree lawns
planted with red maples, elms, ash and other trees that grew in graceful
arches over the streets.
In contrast, the industrial northwest part of town,
between the White River and the Vandalia Railroad, is the "Bucktown"
neighborhood filled with working class
folk and vernacular cottages.
Houses are small, set close to each other and close to the street. Sidewalks
are intermittent. This is where workers in the town's factories and
sanitariums lived.
Residential development reflects Martinsville's boom
years of 1890-1930. Because of the barriers of White River on the west and
large hills on the north, the town expanded to the east and south. Building
slowed with the financial crisis of the Depression and the accompanying
changes in ideas about health and recreation that led to the decline of the
sanitarium industry. Residential building resumed after World War II, when
returning soldiers sought fast and economical housing solutions. The area
between approximately Garfield Avenue and Poston Road began to be developed
about this time. With the completion of West Middle School and Poston Road
Elementary School in the late 1950s, further expansion occurred east of Ohio
Street and west to Morton Avenue. The
Ranch style house, the suburban
darling of the mid-twentieth-century house types, predominates in these
areas.
The 1970s in Martinsville were characterized by fairly
isolated subdivisions on the edge—both near and far--of the city. Parkview,
east of Jimmy Nash City Park, and Shireman Estates, developed on a large
portion of the Grassyfork Fisheries property, were established at this time.
Lake Edgewood, Foxcliff Estates and Painted Hills followed; all are located
well outside of the City of Martinsville.
For more about the residential development of
Martinsville, go to:
East Washington Street Historic District
Northside Historic District.
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