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.
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.
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.
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 GED’s 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.