Nov. 1
100 Years ago – 1924
The Martinsville Cotillion Club held its regular bi-weekly dance at Municipal Hall, with dancing from 8:30 p.m. to midnight. Martinsville musical group the Piedmont Serenaders performed.
The Martinsville-Chatham bus line opened, which also connected Leatherwood and Mountain Valley. The line was owned by Mr. J.S. Gilley, who lived in Martinsville and made two runs in each direction each day. The bus line was the fifth bus line out of Martinsville, linking all directions except the north.
J.D. Bassett and Nick Hairston were the possum-hunting champions of Bassett. The Nov. 4, 1924, Henry Bulletin describes: “You know they do say, tho, that Nic Hairston and one or two others are very nifty at it two [sic]. Anyway, some of this gang of nimrods ought to go in for the marathon as we are reliably told that they chased about six miles one night and when the good old dogs treed near an old guy’s domicile up nigh the Bull mountain, that same old guy came out and demanded that his tom cat be right now left alone. Of course the boys don’t want this to leak out. That’s why we are telling it in the Bulletin.”
75 years ago – 1949
City Prison Farm had 31 prisoners: 25 operated the rock quarry on Mount Olivet Road and the rest were on housecleaning and cooking details, leaving no other men for other work around the premises. As a solution, Public Works Director Richard Maury asked the state to provide prisoners from other jurisdictions to board at the farm to provide the labor needed. The state replied with the suggestion that Maury and jail Supt. Robert King visit neighboring counties to work out agreements in which those counties with idle prisoners would be sent here to work.
The new fire siren atop the Southside fire station went off and woke a large portion of city residents, with some people as far away as Horsepasture saying they heard it – but it was a false alarm. At 4 a.m., the William F. Carter family meant to call the police department to say they had heard some unlawful noises behind their house, but they accidentally called the fire department number instead. The fire department thought the Carter home was on fire, so it sent two trucks, one from downtown and one from Southside; and 16 of the new volunteer firemen heard the call and showed up, as well.
1960
Two men, one from Axton near the North Carolina line and the other from Leaksville, N.C., were arrested in the theft of tobacco leaves. Eight hundred pounds of tobacco had been stolen from farmer Howard Strickland of near Ridgeway, but he had seen their vehicle leave the near his barn at 11 p.m. The two men told investigators that they were planning to sell the tobacco on the Martinsville market.
50 years ago – 1974
Three new developments in the area would have 175 houses. Ninety-two of them would be on U.S. 220 South near the Martinsville Speedway, on Holiday Properties land owned by Claude A. Hodges. Fifty-three of them would be built by G.W. Grogan Inc. on Va. 781 off U.S. 58 near George Washington Carver High School. The other houses would go in an area called Autumn Way, owned by Andrew Hodges, 2 miles southeast of Ridgeway. Those would be in the $20,000 to $26,000 range, targeting “the working man,” with payments of about $80 a month possibly. Financing would be made through the Virginia Housing Development Authority and Farmers Home Administration, originated through First National Bank of MHC and Piedmont Trust Bank. The 2-piece sectional houses would be built in Boones Mill and brought to the site, placed on prepared foundations.
25 years ago - 1999
The Mission Center launched its annual fund drive and it also was starting to look for a new location. It had been housed at the former YMCA (and before that, Community Recreation Center) building on Cleveland Avenue, but that building was being given to the City by BB&T. The City was looking at other potential uses for it – it ended up being renovated and used as part of neighboring Martinsville Middle School.
Father and son Greg and Luke Sanford saved their house at 618 Mulberry Road with some quick action with the fire extinguisher. Greg was working on plumbing under the kitchen sink when he smelled smoke, and Luke, 12, saw flames behind the dryer. The father called to the son to get the fire extinguisher, which he did quickly, and the pair put out the fire.
EMI Imaging moved into a former Bassett Walker plant in Patrick County. EMI put 82 jobs in that building, which once had been host to 260 jobs with Bassett- Walker. It was a partial relocation from EMI’s first location on Microfilm Road in the County Line community, and 15 employees would stay at that place.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.