September 1
100 Years ago – 1924
Sept. 1 – To honor Labor Day, the first Monday in September, which in 1924 was Sept. 1, there was only one city delivery of mail, and the windows at the post office would only be open from 9-11 a.m., for the sale of stamps, delivery of mail and C.O.D. packages.
State Agent Mrs. Davis was in Henry County for three days carrying out the first step of the Kitchen Improvement Contest: visiting the kitchens of the 35 contestants. Those 35 were given suggestions and literature for making their kitchens more convenient and attractive. Several of them had asked that the Agriculture Engineer come to their house to estimate the cost of getting running water in their kitchens. The contest would be run through September and October; ad the end of the contest, the woman who has made the greatest improvement in her kitchen with the least expense will win the first prize, a Hoosier kitchen cabinet. “Get-together Day” for the contestants will be Nov. 1 at the Court House; the contestants would report what they have done to improve their kitchens, prizes would be awarded and everyone there, including speakers, prize donors, contestants and visitors, would take an automobile tour of the winners’ kitchens.
75 years ago – 1949
Richard Gravely III, 12, was in a Richmond hospital with a severe attack of infantile paralysis (polio), but improving. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Gravely Jr. and grandson of Mr. and Mrs. R.P. Gravely Sr. and Capt. and Mrs. E.D. Martin. His father was the Richard P. Gravely who organized the local chapter of the Archaeological Society of Virginia in 1961 and who excavated Native American sites in Henry County.
1960
Another $39 was donated to the emergency polio campaign, bringing a total of $301.50. The goal was $28,000 to pay hospital expenses of those with polio, especially due to a local polio epidemic the year before. Donations should be sent to the Martinsville March of Dimes headquarters. There also were two dedicated pledge phone lines – ME 2-2106 or 2-2257; and Martinsville residents took part in a telethon over WSLS.
It was the first day of school in Martinsville.
50 years ago – 1974
New radar equipment used by Martinsville police and state police in Henry County was more accurate than earlier versions. It allowed a patrol car to check for speeders while the car made its regular rounds. It could determine the speed of oncoming traffic or cars going in the same direction of the moving patrol car. It was continually on and could register speed at a distance up to half a mile. Frank Gard was the police chief then.
25 years ago - 1999
The Martinsville Astros was the baseball team here, and in 1999 they won the Appalachian League championship in a playoff series sweep over the Pulaski Rangers. They were the only Martinsville team in the Appalachian League ever to have a winning record.
Beanie Babies had been a craze for quite a while – but on this date their maker, Ty Inc., announced that at the end of 1999 all Beanie Babies would be retired.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.