Carroll
County
Carroll County is ideally located along I-77 that runs through the
county and intersects with I-81 in Wythe County 12 miles to the
north. Located on the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains of
Southwest Virginia, Carroll County is 68 miles southwest of Roanoke,
VA, 111 miles east of Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee, and 65 miles
northwest of Winston-Salem, NC.
Variety best describes
the land area in the county’s 494 square miles (316,160 acres).
The highest point in the county is Fisher’s Peak, which has
an elevation of 3,570 feet, while Lovill's Creek, where it crosses
the Virginia/North Carolina line, is the lowest point.
Manufacturing in textiles,
furniture
With a strong manufacturing
base in furniture, textiles and glass, Carroll County is located
in the Virginia-North Carolina furniture manufacturing region, the
largest center of furniture production in the world.
 It
is also home to one of the most sophisticated, cutting edge technology
plants, Magnolia Manufacturing, Inc., a division of Parkdale Mills,
Inc., that produces ring spun yarn at its Hillsville facility and
is considered to be an example of the latest innovative technology
at work.
The Town
of Hillsville, the county’s only incorporated town, is the
seat of the county government.
The Results Companies,
with headquarters in Dania, Florida, established a call center in
Galax in the Crossroads Institute to handle customer service calls
for XM Satellite Radio. The center employs more than 250. Results
has located several centers in Southwest Virginia and employs more
than 800 in the region.
Two companies in Hillsville
are high-tech examples of textiles and apparel manufacturing. Kentucky
Derby Hosiery Company purchased one of the first shell buildings
in the Carroll County Industrial Park in 1994 and operates a high-tech
sock knitting operation in the 56,000 sq. ft. facility.
From its beginning, Magnolia
Manufacturing’s Hillsville plant has been considered as more
than a manufacturing facility by its parent Parkdale Mills, Inc.,
the industry leader in the production of cotton and cotton blend
yarns. Magnolia Manufacturing’s physical plant, equipment
and unconventional layout are designed to ensure maximum flexibility
and to replace labor intensive process with cutting edge technology.
Leading employers in the
City of Galax include furniture manufacturer Vaughn-Bassett Furniture
and Guardian Industries’ Consolidated Glass and Mirror Corporation
that operates a glass fabrication plant in Galax.
Small Business Incubator
and Entrepreneurial Center
 Education,
training, small business and technology come together in the Crossroads
Institute located in a former Lowe’s Improvement store building
in Galax. A small business incubator, sophisticated computer labs,
business training, public school and college classes are housed
in the new facility financed primarily by $4.9 million in federal
funds. The Crossroads Institute serves the City of Galax and Carroll,
Grayson, Wythe, Smyth and Bland counties.
Three centers are included
in the Crossroads Institute. The Southwest Regional Enterprise Center
is the small business incubator. The Center for Technical and Entrepreneurial
Studies will provide workforce training and function as an economic
development magnet high school offering distance learning in technical-occupational
programs. The Center for Lifelong Learning offers programs to earn
GEDs or take English as a Second Language classes, as well as continuing
education and corporate training.
Musical heritage and
tourism
Virginia’s musical
heritage is important to Carroll County. With the internationally
known Old Fiddler’s Convention, held every year the second
weekend in August in Galax, the county and city are access points
for the Blue Ridge Music Center, located on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The Crooked Road, Virginia’s
Music Heritage Trail is a driving trail that follows US 58 primarily
and extends from the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Blue Ridge Music
Center through Bristol and the coalfields. The Trail connects major
music venues in the region along one major highway artery. This
section of southwestern Virginia is blessed with an abundance of
historic and contemporary music venues, musicians, and fretted instrument
makers.
The Music Heritage Trail
sets this area apart from the rest of the state and the nation.
The music of this area includes styles such as old time, bluegrass,
mountain, and gospel. There are many annual festivals, weekly concerts,
live radio shows, and innumerable less formal jam sessions throughout
the region that present this music for audiences large and small.
The county and region
are served by the 149-bed Twin County Regional Hospital in Galax,
that includes a full range of healthcare services and a wellness
center.
Additional Links:
| 
