Martin County was formed February 1, 1820 and was named after one of the three individuals; Major Martin, Major Thomas Martin, or John P. Martin, all of Kentucky.

   The earliest signs of civilization in the county, dates between 750 and 1500 A.D. They were the prehistoric Indians and they lived in the bluffs above the river. Some of the early settlers, along with the Shawnee, Delaware, Kick-a-poo, and Miami Indian Tribes, were the Irish, Germans, English, and possibly French. After the war of 1812, they began to immigrate to Martin County from New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. They were drawn to Martin County because of the river power for trading and for their mills, the good rich farmland, and the timber.

   The first county seat was at Hindostan because it was the largest town in the county. It was also on the New Albany-Vincennes stagecoach route, which was the first stagecoach route in Indiana. Hindostan had a population of 33 "Heads of Family" in the 1820 census. In the fall of 1820, an illness plagued the town and nearly wiped out the population, either by death or moving away. It appears the illness was Yellow Fever caused from the bite of a mosquito.

   The town continued to exist because of the stage route and the waterpower, which produced power for stone, grist and sawmills. Many travelers passed through Hindostan, including the Indiana Territorial Governor, Wm. Henry Harrison. The town had a ferry, owned by Wm. Harris, that crossed White River. Other businesses were taverns, churches, merchantiles, and blacksmiths along with the mills. By 1825, only 3 of the original 33 Heads of Family remained. Today, there are no signs of an existence of the town of Hindostan, except for the town cemeteries filled with the families lost to the Yellow Fever.

    Across the river from Hindostan was a small town named Greenwich. The French traders came here to trade goods with the Shawnee Indians. In 1823 the White River flooded Greenwich and the town was dissolved. The people moved to higher ground. They went to a community called Mount Pleasant. Because of the population of Mount Pleasant and the unhealthy conditions at Hindostan, the county seat was moved to Mount Pleasant in 1828, where it remained until 1844. The town became prosperous with 30 homes, 3 churches, a courthouse, jail, post office and several merchants. The stage route came through Mount Pleasant and stopped at a home built by a Mr. Lewis Brooks in 1832.

   A new community was platted in 1853 and the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad came through it. The people of Mount Pleasant began to move away and into the community. This was the beginning of the end of Mount Pleasant and the stagecoaches through Martin County. This new community was two miles north, and was called Loogootee. Loogootee remains the largest and only city in the county, but never the county seat.

    It was a major railroad center for freight coming into the area and also livestock being shipped to larger cities in the East and West. After moving the county seat from Mount Pleasant, the new county seat would be Trinity Springs, known for its natural health spas. Again, the county seat did not remain in Trinity springs. In all, it was moved a total of 9 times, more than any other county in the state of Indiana. The last and final move of the county seat was to Shoals on the White River, approximately 8 miles from Hindostan. The year was 1871. In 1876, a fire destroyed the original courthouse. Records were stored in fireproof vaults, so we still have the early records of our county. The present courthouse was built in 1877 and is still in use today.

Martin County had some notorious citizens in the 1880's. They were named Archer and they were not up right, law-abiding citizens. In fact, they were robbers and supposedly murderers. The were finally lodged in the Martin County jail in March of 1886. The People of the community took the law into their own hands, and on the night of March 9, 1886, they broke into the jail, locked up the sheriff, took the prisoners onto the court house lawn, and with ropes in hand, lynched the Archer Gang. At 1:00 am, the court house bells rang to alert the towns people to witness the archer's hanging on the court house lawn, where they remained hanging until noon of the next day. After the hanging, life in Shoals and the surrounding communities finally began to approach a point of normalcy. The county seat began to grow, and today Shoals has a population of nearly 1200 people.

     Today in Martin County, the timber is still being harvested, the farmers still plant corn, and the White River still flows through Shoals and past the once bustling little communities of Hindostan and Greenwich.