Jan. 26

1925

Salesman Moses T. Hall of Martinsville represented the Etowah Monument Company of Atlanta, selling monuments and tombstones. He could be reached at T. Calvin Martin’s or by writing to Box 185, Martinsville.

1950

A flu outbreak hit the area, with the Patrick Henry Medical association estimating that between 1,200 and 1,500 city residents had the flu. Attendance in the city schools was down by 20%, with 627 of the 3,320 students absent. An informal survey of the seven available doctors out of the city’s 23 practicing doctors said that they were treating 333 patients for the flu. The Martinsville General Hospital was at its capacity with 101 patients, the most patients it has held in its 3-year history.

Weather in Martinsville was crazy, warm enough that trees and shrubs started blooming and putting out leaves. Daytime temperatures hit 71 degrees one day and 68 another.

1961

Snow started falling at 6 a.m., changing to hail and sleet within the hour. School was cancelled, except for exams in both City high schools.

1975

Henry County’s new computer weighed one ton and cost $103,093 (about $6 million today). It would process tax work, keep track of county department expenditures and do Public Service Authority billing. Staff who were received training to learn to use it included Office Director Lawrence Martin and Accounting and Data Processing Office Deputy Director Carolyn Haynes.

2000

Stanley Furniture posted record sales for 1999 – net sales of $264.7 million. Net income rose to $19.2 million; it was $14.5 million the year before.

EMI Imaging announced plans to hire 30 employees for jobs in Stuart, bringing the total number of workers there to 104. Six employees worked in Bassett and the rest at its plant on Commerce Street in Stuart which had opened in November. Starting pay would be $6.50 an hour, with bonuses. David Wright was the president.

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