July 24

100 Years ago – 1924

In Stuart, C.E. Neal was appointed acting postmaster to fill a vacancy caused by the death of former postmaster A.H. Staples.

75 years ago – 1949

Lee Telephone Co. announced “a very slight increase over what is now being paid”: For households, $4 for an individual line, $2.50 for a 2-party line and $2.75 for a rural line; for businesses, $5.75 for an individual line, $5 for a 2-party line and $4 for a rural line. To make space for more office equipment, “it became necessary to tear out the three nice living apartments that were on the second floor of this office building.”

1960

The Martinsville Go-Kart Club held dedication for its 800-foot paved track at Municipal Airport, 3 miles south of the city off Route 220. More than 40 go-carts participated in several races with a total of 265 laps. The track was operated by Buck Smith and Luther Shoemaker.

50 years ago – 1974

Wilbur Sims, assistant director of the Martinsville-Henry County Public Library, debuted a new radio series, “A Concatenation of Contiguous Casuistries in the Case of Cantankerous Constance and Her Cuddly Cat, Cora.”

25 years ago - 1999

A 14-light traffic signal was installed at the intersection of U.S. 220 and Water Plant Road. Several fatal accidents had happened there in prior years, including one that killed Stephen Craig Allen, 16, in 1995. In September 1996, as VDOT had begun to address the safety concerns of that intersection, Magna Vista High School Coach Jim Young was killed there, and a month later, as VDOT was installing flashing lights and rumble strips, a four-car crash left several people severely injured.

— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin accessed on microfilm at the Martinsville Branch Library.