Formed September 1, 1870 (116th county)
Martin County (11,287), Inez (543)
The 1936 stone Neo-Classical courthouse was augmented in 1993 with a Courts Building. The courthouse is on Main Street at Court Street. Kentucky State Highway 40 is Main Street in the town. The building designer was Paul J. Arnett. An 1892 courthouse also existed in Inez, the only county seat. A Government Center and a Government Business Center are both nearby. The county was established on September 1, 1870 and named for Congressman John P. Martin. The county was taken from parts of Floyd, Johnson, Pike, and Lawrence counties as the 116th county. The county seat is named for the daughter of a local postmaster.
Martin County government consists of a County Judge Executive, a sheriff, a clerk, an attorney, a treasurer, a coroner, and an appraiser (executive). It has 5 Magistrates (legislative.) Two Circuit Court Judges, Two District Court Judges, and One Family Court Judge serve Martin, Johnson, and Lawrence counties and a court clerk serves Martin County (judicial.) The county lies on the eastern border with West Virginia. Huntington, West Virginia is north and Lexington, Kentucky is west of the county. The county center is 8.4 miles South of Inez nearer Davella. The county is surrounded clockwise by West Virginia and Pike, Floyd, Johnson, and Lawrence counties.
The area of the county is 231 square miles. It is 93 out of 120 in the state. It ranks 94 out of 120 in population in the state. It has a density of 48.9 persons per square mile making it 71 out of 120 in the state. Martin County has 7.1% of its population in its incorporated areas. There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county. The county is shaped like a bag of trash. Inez is in the northern third of the county. Inez is the county seat and the largest city. It is 4.8% of the county population. The county seat is pronounced IE-NEZ.
Inez
Warfield
