Oct. 25
100 Years ago – 1924
For sale at C.W. Holt: German made Cotton Blankets, very good quality, 98 cents each; English Wool Blankets, Good for couch covers or auto robes, $2.95 each; long sleeve gowns made from Fruit of the Loom long cloth, $1.95; house dresses $1.19, made from good quality gingham and chambrey. Will launder well. Colors fast. $1.19.
75 years ago – 1949
Mrs. Margaret Hurd had a mild case of infantile paralysis (polio). She underwent treatment at the Medical College of Virginia Hospital in Richmond.
City Council approved the construction of a 100,000-square-foot tobacco warehouse in East Martinsville. Ben W. Via said he would start building it soon and have it ready for the 1950 selling season the next fall. It would be built by Via and Rufus W. Turner, owner of Cash Produce Co., on a lot off the Old Danville Road between the intersection with Route 58 and the Lee Telephone Co. garage.
1960
The Henry County Board of Supervisors approved two dump sites it the county but still was looking for three more, because the health department had recommended that at least five garbage dumps be established in different areas of the county. Suitable tracts for two sites had been found in the Reed Creek and Horsepasture districts. Together, they were 20 acres. For Bassett, there was a possible site at a ravine near Mary Hunter school, but a dump that close to a school would have to be covered each day, and there wasn’t enough dirt available for that. No sites at all had been found for Ridgeway or Axton.
50 years ago – 1974
Ad: “If He’s Tall – Thin and Terrific!! He Needs Extra Long Clothing from Martinsville’s Most Talked About Store, Ted’s – especially for guys who are 6 ft. 4 and more. Johnny Carson Suits and Sportcoats in extra long sizes plus Enro dress shirts plus Brad Whitney Corduroy Coats and Shirt Jacs plus Polyester Slax in Long Strides.
25 years ago - 1999
Henry County was one of the first in Virginia to have a dog trained to sniff explosives in addition to drugs. The dog, Spike, worked with Deputy L.S. Austin. Rocko, a black Labrador, worked with Deputy W.R. Hairston. That was the first the Sheriffs office had a drug dog since 1995.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.