The Town of Stuart was first incorporated as Taylorsville, Virginia, in 1792, in honor of early settler George Taylor.

Captain Eliphaz Shelton of the Patrick County Revolutionary War Militia, donated the land for the construction of a new courthouse and town subdivided from his plantation.

Occupations listed included four farmers, two innkeepers, three merchants, attorneys, two physicians, two cabinetmakers, two saddlers, one harness maker, three tailors, one bricklayer, nine laborers, a clerk, a mail carrier, and a sheriff with two deputies.

Following the economic difficulties of the Civil War, the residents of Taylorsville focused their energies on expanding railroads to connect to markets and boost the economy.

The Danville and New River Railroad was chartered in 1873, with the line completed to Martinsville, Virginia in nearby Henry County by 1881.

With the growth associated with the railroad, Taylorsville was incorporated as a town in 1884 and was renamed Stuart in honor of Confederate Major General J.E.B.

An industrial and commercial area developed adjacent to the railroad, which was located further downhill along the flats of the Mayo River.

"Uptown" continued to serve as the center of the town with the courthouse, churches, school, attorneys' offices, banks, hotels, and stores.

The two areas, however, were closely related and interdependent; the town's first telephone line at the turn of the twentieth century was run between the railroad depot downtown and the Hotel Perkins uptown.

Each customer was charged a flat rate of $1.25 per month, and if 300 citizens bought into the system, Clark would allow the lights to burn all night.

Joseph H. Vipperman, a Stuart native, was the president of this company when its name was changed to American Electric Power.

Route 58 is a four-lane divided highway, crossing the entire Commonwealth, as well as Patrick County.

New additions include the downtown rail trail along the Mayo River, a new Farmer's Market located within the heart of town, and new sidewalk and infrastructure improvements along Main Street.

[7] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.7 square miles (1.9 km2), all of it land.

0.7 square miles (1.8 km2) The town of Stuart is a hilly community within a small valley surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The local media outlets are the 1270 AM WHEO Radio Station, Cable 5 TV, and The Enterprise, the town's weekly newspaper.

Stuart has an annual festival, the Easter Brothers' Homecoming Gospel Sing, held every July in Dominion Valley Park.

[11] Stuart also hosts the oldest continuous beach music festival on the East Coast, "Hot Fun in the Summertime" presented by the Virginia Jaycees.