Martinsville's Story to be Told in Pictures

More than 300 pictures were collected, all chronicling the history of Martinsville dating back to the early 1900s—and the captions below each one detail exactly what life was like in town more than 100 years ago.

All this can be found in a book that is part of the Images of America series showing the histories of towns all across the country.

The book was written and created by Patricia Whitacre, author and former Martinsville resident, who worked in collaboration with her cousin, Jane Gandolfe, current Martinsville resident, to put the book together.

“We started this in early 2010, and collected pictures,” Gandolfe said. “It took about a year and a half to get along.”

And now, on Aug. 15, the book will officially be released to the public, and will be followed first by a book signing Aug. 20 at the Martinsville Community Center on Washington Valley Road, and then Sept. 17 at the  on Chimney Rock Road.

“I think it will be very special to the people of Martinsville because it does distinguish that borough in Bridgewater as one of its starting locations,” Gandolfe said. “Martinsville was established in the 1700s, and the rest of Bridgewater was just open fields.”

“But this was the center of town with a post office and butcher shop,” she added. “This book recognizes the individuality of the town, and I would hope it will help bring back that little hamlet of village feeling.”

Gandolfe said the book first came about after she spoke with Whitacre, who had already written a similar book for a town in Pennsylvania.

“She said it would be great to capture Martinsville,” Gandolfe said.

And from there, Gandolfe said, the idea took off as more and more people began to submit their pictures.

In total, Gandolfe said, they collected about 300 photos from local residents of their family members and old buildings. Of those, she said, they decided on about 270 to use in the final product.

“Arcadia, [who publishes the book] makes a determination of what pictures are good to go in,” she said. “They look for certain requirements concerning their scanners.”

“We were looking for pictures of people doing things,” she added. “We didn’t want just portraits, we wanted pictures that would depict what life was like.”

Once the pictures were approved, Gandolfe said, Whitacre began to write captions for all of them, with the goal to not just write the names of the people in the photos, but rather to tell a story.

“It is nice to have those captions because we always have dozens of pictures, but we don’t always write what’s going on,” she said. “This gives the history of the area, and so, for my kids, it’s about their heritage.”

Once the captions were ready, and final edits were done, everything was sent to Arcadia and proofs were created for final edits.

And now the books are completed and ready to be sold, with a first order of 750 being printed.

Gandolfe said the book will be sold in bookstores, like Barnes and Noble, but there will be a special advantage to purchasing it directly from her.

“All proceeds from the book go to the renovations of the Martinsville Community Center,” she said, adding that 100 percent of the proceeds from purchasing directly from her will go toward the center. “There are no contributions to the community center when you buy the book at the store.”

And because it’s a fundraiser, Arcadia is providing a discount for the printing of the book.

There will also be a copy of the book at the Martinsville Library for residents to borrow.

At this point, Gandolfe said, they have received about 300 orders for the book, and more keep coming in. It’s all about word of mouth, she said, particularly as people are seeing pictures that have been included.

“I got some orders on the phone from someone because her mother is in the book, as is her father and aunt,” she said. “Patricia took it to a family reunion, and people were saying, ‘oh, there’s a picture of grandpa, I have to have one.’ So I got about 15 more orders for that.”

“Even if it’s only one picture of their family, people will buy for that picture,” she added.

Gandolfe said they got photos of children working in a victory garden during World War II, people working in fields, a school boy collecting scrap metal during the war and pictures of the fire trucks used in the early 1900s.

“These are pictures representative not only of the people, but of what was going on in Martinsville at that time,” she said.

For Gandolfe, a life-long resident of Martinsville, it was like going home to see what life was like when she was young.

“I see pictures of the way the town used to be, and pictures of family and friends, and it gives me a warm at-home feeling,” she said. “And it’s nice to have the captions because this gives the history of the area, and so, for my kids, it’s their heritage.”

Gandolfe said this kind of book will be very important for the residents themselves.

“People love having the history captured in a way that is easy to glance through,” she said. “They can flip through, read a couple of captions and still get a sense of what life was like.”

“People are really excited to be part of 08836,” she added. “This is Martinsville, this is where I live. It really is steeped in history.”

Books cost $21.95 in Barnes and Noble and other bookstores, while ordering it from Gandolfe costs $22 plus $2.50 for each book needing to be shipped [the shipping costs are not included in the price for those who pick it up from her]. All money collected from purchasing the book through Gandolfe goes toward the renovation of the Martinsville Community Center.

To order a book, contact Gandolfe at jgandolfe@yahoo.com.

The book signing at the community center will be Aug. 20 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., with the community center open house from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information, visit the “I Grew Up in Martinsville” Facebook page.