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The Town of Independence came into being in 1850 as the settlement of a dispute about where to locate the county seat. At that time, a controversy arose between the people of Old Town and people of the Elk Creek area. Each group wanted the County seat in its area. The final decision, made by three commissioners from adjacent counties, was to locate on the site favored by a group of "independents" and to call the town Independence. These commissioners hiked to the top of Point Lookout Mountain and looked down into a grove of trees where 5 streams met and decided that would be the site for the new town. Independence is located 15 miles west of Galax, 40 miles east of Marion, 29 miles south of Wytheville, and 10 miles north of Sparta, North Carolina. The town provides water, sewer, police, and garbage services.
The population in 2000 was 971. Independence is an incorporated town with a Mayor/Council form of government. Town Council meets the 2nd Tuesday 7pm of every month at the Independence Fire Department, 329 Davis Street.
The Town of Independence, located in the center of Grayson County, was created in 1850 when the need arose for a more centrally located county seat. For more than 200 years music has been a part of life and living for the people who reside in our mountainous region. Our unique style of music know as ‘Old Time’ or as referred to by local folks as ‘Mountain Music’, grew from several different cultural styles as settlers migrated from other parts of the world to this area and ‘sank roots’ in the 18th and 19th Centuries. The 20th Century result is ‘Old Time’ and ‘Blue Grass’ as we know it today.
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