Welcome to Martin County, Kentucky

Martin County, Kentucky, is where my story began.

I was born here in September 1978, and my homeplace was Little Lick Branch. Before Martin County was a website I wanted to build, it was the place where I grew up, went to school, and began figuring out who I wanted to become.

If you are visiting for the first time, I hope this website helps you find something worth exploring. If you grew up here and moved away, I hope it gives you a way to stay connected. And if you still call Martin County home, I hope you see your community represented with the care it deserves.

My roots: Little Lick Branch to the Class of 1996

My school years took me from Grassy Elementary to Inez Middle School and then Sheldon Clark High School, where I graduated in 1996. I went on to attend Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky.

Today, I am happily married to my wife, Sara, and we have two daughters, Ellie and Olivia. My life has grown beyond the place where it started, but Martin County remains part of my identity.

Little Lick Branch and those three school names are how I trace my own beginning. They also remind me that a county’s history lives in the experiences of the people who grew up there.

The schools have changed, but their stories remain

Someone returning after years away will find a different school map from the one I knew. The changes were not simply a matter of putting new names on the same buildings.

Grassy Elementary became part of a larger consolidation. The Mountain Citizen’s reporting on the former Grassy School documents its 2002 consolidation with Tomahawk Elementary to form Eden Elementary in a new building. Grassy is no longer an operating school, but it remains a meaningful name for former students like me.^[1]

The middle-school and high-school changes were connected. In 2013, safety concerns associated with nearby highway construction and blasting led to the closure of the original Sheldon Clark High School campus. High-school students moved into the Inez Middle School building, while Inez middle-school students joined students at Warfield Middle School.^[2]

Today, Martin County Middle School is in Warfield. The district also lists Eden Elementary and Martin County High School among its schools.^[3]

The new Martin County High School welcomed students on August 7, 2019, following the years spent in the former Inez Middle School building. That move gave the county’s high-school students a new campus and a new school name.^[4]

For those of us who attended the earlier schools, those names still carry our own histories. New buildings serve a new generation without erasing the people and places that came before them.

A first visit: start with Inez and make room to explore

For a first visit, I would start with Inez and choose a few stops from the county’s tourism guide rather than trying to cover everything in one afternoon.

The guide highlights the Martin County Courthouse, Roy F. Collier Community Center, Heritage Village, and Martin County Historical Society. Those places offer starting points for learning about local life and the county’s past. Check visitor access, programs, and opening hours before planning a stop.^[5]

History here also reaches beyond Inez. The tourism guide identifies Beauty with the story of Himlerville, the cooperative coal community founded by Hungarian immigrant Martin Himler in 1918. It is one example of the deeper stories waiting behind a familiar place name.^[5]

If your interests lean outdoors, the county promotes guided UTV outings through Big Sandy Backroads and highlights boating access at the Warfield Boat Ramp on the Tug Fork River. Arrange tours and confirm access beforehand; a scenic route or reclaimed mining area is not automatically open for public use.^[5]

Make time for mountain music and community traditions

Music belongs in this welcome because it offers another way to get to know Martin County.

In Tomahawk, the Stidham Old Time Music Gathering is held at James Webb Musical Repair and Sales. Its 2026 program included live performances and workshops in instruments, songwriting, and Appalachian dancing—a useful picture of the traditions the gathering brings together. Check the organizer’s website for future dates rather than treating a past schedule as an upcoming event.^[6]

The county’s festival guide also highlights the Harvest Festival in Inez, Heritage Days, and Christmas in the Mountains. Together, they point visitors toward music, crafts, storytelling, and community celebrations. Dates and activities change, so use organizer announcements when planning your trip.^[7]

My aim for this website is to give these events, musicians, makers, and local businesses room to tell their stories. A visitor guide should help people find things to do, but it should also help them understand the community they are visiting.

Why I am building this website

I want MartinCountyKentucky.com to be a place for useful local information and stories worth keeping: a school memory, a musician’s work, a family business, an upcoming gathering, or a piece of history someone can help explain.

There is room here for the Martin County I remember and the Martin County people are building today. This is an independent community website, and I want its coverage to grow through research, local voices, and contributions from people who know the county.

If you have a photograph you can share, a memory of Grassy, Inez Middle, or Sheldon Clark, or a local story we should explore, please get in touch through our Contact page. Tell us what you remember, and help us document the details.

I am Danny Crum: born in Martin County, raised at Little Lick Branch, and a Sheldon Clark graduate of the Class of 1996.

Welcome to Martin County, Kentucky. I am glad you are here.