Jan. 10 through the years, from 2025

1925

Baltimore mining expert Joseph T. Singewald was in Martinsville to tour all the mines operated by the local Mica Plant.

Notice: “The best grade of nainsook at one-half price. Buy now. S. HEINER, Martinsville, Va.” Noainsook is a fine, lightweight form of muslin, which is a plain weave cotton fabric.

1950

City Health Officer R.M. Wilson warned that the coal shortage in Martinsville would be bad if the weather turned cold soon; only one car of lump coal was on its way to Martinsville. Meanwhile, downtown parking also was in short supply; department store owner Abe Globman asked the Retail Merchants association to do something about the insufficient parking in the city.

1961

Telephone and teletype services between Martinsville and Roanoke were disrupted after a bulldozer knocked down a telephone pole in the Grassy Hill section of Franklin County. It also disrupted teletype printer service into Martinsville from New York and Richmond. That interrupted, among other things, stock market reports from New York and Associated Press teletype service.

1975

The old Rapid Transit bus station was being torn down as part of the downtown renewal project. Elmer H. Kendrick of 118 Sunset Drive was one of the workers.

Workers at Gindy Manufacturing Corp. in Collinsville had been on strike for 40 days. The Teamsters Local 22, which had 151 members, voted to end the strike, but the Grindy company would not bring back about 120 of the workers. Russ Huggett was the personnel manager for Grindy, which made truck trailers. He said that there weren’t enough orders anymore for that many workers, plus, the company planned to move from Collinsville to Ridgeway.

2000

The “Clearance Countdown in Uptown Martinsville – Prices are Being Slashed!” ad lists the following stores, which it says are open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.: Shumate & Jessie Furniture uptown on the Square (wardrobes on sale), The Showroom (“save now on occasional furniture”); Flowers by Linda (105 Broad St., “Spring is in the air”), Larry & Alley (“for all your Brand Name appliance needs) and Manufacturers Liquidation Center at 115 E. Church St. (“If we have it, you won’t find a lower price within 100 miles”).

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