History & Geography
HISTORY
The Town of Independence came into being in 1850 as the settlement of a dispute about where to locate the county seat. At that time, a controversy arose between the people of Old Town and people of the Elk Creek area. Each group wanted the County seat in its area. The final decision, made by three commissioners from adjacent counties, was to locate on the site favored by a group of "independents" and to call the town Independence. These commissioners hiked to the top of Point Lookout Mountain and looked down into a grove of trees where 5 streams met and decided that would be the site for the new county seat.
Elevation: 2698 feet
County: Grayson
Land area: 2.3 square miles
Zip code: 24348
Nearest city with pop. 50,000+: Winston-Salem, NC (71 miles).
Nearest city with pop. 200,000+: Greensboro, NC (99 miles).
Nearest towns: Sparta, NC (8 miles), Fries, VA (14 miles), Galax, VA (16 miles), Rural Retreat, VA (21 miles), Wytheville, VA (23 miles), Atkins, VA (25 miles).
Area code: 276
Hospitals/medical centers near Independence:
Alleghany County Memorial (9 miles; Sparta, NC)
Twin County Regional (16 miles; Galax, VA)
Wythe County Community (23 miles; Wytheville, VA)
Public high school in Independence:
Grayson County High School
Grayson County Career and Tehnical Education Center (CATE Center)
Public primary/middle schools in Independence:
Independence Middle School
Independence Elementary School
Library in Independence:
Wythe-Grayson Regional Library: Location: 147 S. Independence Ave.
Average weather in Independence
Based on data reported by over 4,000 weather stations
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| Average temp. (°F) | 30.3 | 33.2 | 40.8 | 49.0 | 57.9 | 65.3 | 69.5 | 68.0 | 61.8 | 50.7 | 41.6 | 33.6 |
| High temperature (°F) | 40.8 | 44.8 | 53.2 | 62.2 | 70.5 | 77.1 | 81.1 | 79.7 | 73.7 | 64.2 | 53.8 | 44.5 |
| Low temperature (°F) | 19.8 | 21.6 | 28.4 | 35.7 | 45.4 | 53.5 | 57.8 | 56.2 | 49.8 | 37.2 | 29.4 | 22.7 |
| Precipitation (in) | 3.9 | 3.6 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 3.2 |
Normal climate around Independence
Based on data reported by main weather stations
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| Days with precip. | 12 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 11 |
| Wind speed (mph) | 7.5 | 7.7 | 8.2 | 8.0 | 6.4 | 5.7 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 5.7 | 6.5 | 6.9 |
| Morning humidity (%) | 78 | 77 | 77 | 79 | 85 | 87 | 89 | 91 | 91 | 88 | 83 | 79 |
| Afternoon humidity (%) | 59 | 55 | 51 | 49 | 54 | 57 | 59 | 59 | 58 | 53 | 54 | 59 |
| Sunshine (%) | 52 | 57 | 60 | 64 | 63 | 64 | 63 | 60 | 61 | 64 | 57 | 54 |
| Days clear of clouds | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 8 |
| Partly cloudy days | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
| Cloudy days | 17 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 16 |
| Snowfall (in) | 5.1 | 4.3 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 2.6 |