April 8

100 Years ago – 1925

Kazim Temple A.A.O.N.M.S. had just purchased land right outside city limits. It would raise money for building a building by selling stock. Each “noble” of the temple (member) would be asked to make a minimum loan of $200.

75 years ago – 1950

 William Dyson Hobson became the 10th candidate for City Council, which had five seats up for election.  He was the owner and operator of Hobson’s Esso Station and Grocery Store on Fayette street. The 42-year-old had been a foreman at Jobbers Pants Company and served with the Air Force in the South Pacific. He was a graduate of Piedmont Christian Institute in Martinsville and Knoxville College in Tennessee. He would end up being elected, the first black person to serve on City Council.

50 years ago – 1975

A group of Patrick County residents submitted a petition as part of asking for the removal of Sheriff Calvin Harbour, whose department was under state police investigation in connection with the disappearance with 49 pints of whisky from a locked evidence locker.

25 years ago - 2000

During the NASCAR race, the Martinsville Speedway’s new press box was used for the first time. It was five stories above the first and second turns and had 96 seats for print media, with electrical and telephone hookups at each seat. The roof of the press box was set up to accommodate photographers and television crews. Meanwhile, new seats in the first and second turns boosted the seating capacity to 86,000.

— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.