Feb. 19
By Holly Kozelsky and Pat Pion
1924
Elmore’s Medicine Show advertised that it was “In Martinsville – Opens Tuesday, February 19th. I want all my friends to come out and enjoy a good clean, free Show. ELMORE’S GREATER PRESCRIPTION, World’s Greatest Tonic.”
Tuesday, Feb. 19, 1924, had the area’s worst sleet storms in many years. Electricity went out. B.W. Dodson of Bachelor’s Hall, owner of the telephone lines running out of Bachelor’s Hall and also superintendent of the Bell line from Danville to Martinsville said 425 telephone poles between Danville and Martinsville were down, and Bachelor’s Hall was without telephone service for the first time in 18 years. Hundreds of big forest trees were broken down between Danville and Martinsville.
1949
The Fontaine Recreation association, part of the Fontaine Converting Works Inc., was formed on May 12, 1948. The association this week in 1949 started building a Community House large enough to house a regulation basketball court which also could be used for dances, movies and other sports; the building would have ping pong tables, pool tables and two bowling alleys.
Grading had begun for the erection of 200 portable stables at Fontaine Field, where the Henry County Horse Show would be held June 23-25.
1960
The Winter Olympics began in Squaw Valley, California.
District Basketball playoffs in Christiansburg were postponed because of snow.
The second heavy snowstorm in a week swept through the South again, with accumulations of up to 12 inches in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, with tornadoes in Louisiana, Florida and North Carolina. Winds of up to 80 mph pounded western Virginia. Many state roads are impassable with backups up to 14 miles long. Three people were injured and consequently hospitalized in a collision on Rt. 220 in Collinsville.
Queen Elizabeth gave birth to a healthy baby boy. His name [which we now know to be Andrew] was being kept secret until his christening, approximately a month later.
Property Assessments were being raised approximately 100 percent, from 10 to 20 percent of true value. The true value figure was set by the six-man board of assessors representing the County’s six magisterial districts. County residents only have 7 days to make their complaints before the board of assessors. The last appraisal was made in 1953.
1974
Janlen’s Brass Rail Steakhouse was located in the Laurel Park Plaza on Route 58. It offered nine types of steaks and sold beer and wine by the glass or pitcher.
1999
Prices at Taylor’s on Northside and Clearview Drives: Pinto beans, 49 cents per pound; cucumbers, 59 cents per pound; bananas, 33 cents per pound; Armour bacon, $1.29 for 12 oz.; Pepsi products 89 cents for 2 litres.
PHOTO: “The Horsepasture Store on 58 and 687 (Preston Road) is a good example of a traditional general retail establishment serving a largely rural population. The property has played an important role in the social and commercial life of the crossroads hamlet of Horsepasture and the surrounding rural area.” - 1933 - Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, John Atkinson, Benjamin Watkins, Paul Clifton, James Lester Roberson, John H Schoolfield, Robert A Schoolfield, et al., Ryan, Robert A, photographer. Horsepasture Store, U.S. Route 58 & State Route 687, Horse Pasture, Henry County, VA. Horse Pasture Henry County Virginia, 1933. translateds by Christianson, Justinemitter, and Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/va1719/.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin accessed on microfilm at the Martinsville Branch Library.