March 21
100 Years ago – 1925
District E, Viriginia State Teachers Association held its annual conference March 20-21 in the auditorium of the high school in Martinsville. The district covered eight counties, and 300 teachers were registered as delegates at the conference. The presiding officer was Prof. N.T. McManaway of the Blue Ridge Mission School in Patrick County.
The Ladies Aid Society of the Christian Church held a sale of chicken, salad, dressed hens, cakes, pies, eggs and candy, at Central Drug Store.
75 years ago – 1950
City Fire Marshal Clay Easterly and City Manager Kent Mathewson held a meeting with all hardware dealers in the city on storing dynamite. The dealers agreed to use a new metal building being built on Pumphouse Road specifically for the storage of explosives. [Where was Pumphouse Road? Other mentions of Pumphouse Road included that part of it ran from Figsboro to Barrows Mill Road, in an article about sidewalks; that it was near Greyson Street and Figsboro Road, in an article about the census; that Dudley street was off it, in an ad for a house for rent. Dudley Street goes around Stepping Stones, which is on Northside Drive. A 1966 legal notice lists Clearview Drive as formerly called Pumphouse Road.
50 years ago – 1975
The funeral was held for Deputy W.H. “Herman” Ferguson, 46, killed in the line of duty when struck by a pickup truck as he was helping a motorist with a flat tire. More than 300 people attended the funeral at the McKee Funeral Chapel, and the register book had more than 700 names. The funeral procession was 2 miles long. Pallbearers were Sheriff C.P. Witt, Capt. G.M. Brown, Sgt. James N. Miles, Deputies P.D. Gilley, C.V. Flanagan and L.D. Witt and Special Officers N.H. Jacobs and M.L. Stowe.
A Hound Dog Hassle quilt and a Granny Square Afghan were being raffled off to raise money for ANCHOR Commission for its two juvenile homes in Martinsville. Both were within a block of the Brown Street and Cleveland Avenue intersection. Mrs. Jane Spilman was the chair of ANCHOR Commission. Tickets cost $1 each.
25 years ago - 2000
F.A.C.E.S. was an adult Christian singles group in the area. Wanta Martin was the coordinator of the group’s trip to a Joyce Meyer Ministries Conference in Winston-Salem, N.C.