Independence reputedly takes its name from the resolution of a controversy about the appropriate location for the county courthouse after the loss in 1842 of the eastern part of Grayson to newly formed Carroll County. An “independent” panel of arbiters rejected several locations in favor of this one, which was more central than the other possibilities. The town square, adjoining the community's principal intersection, became the court square in 1850. Independence remains a small town with an economy that focuses on county business and local retail.
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