March 2 through the years
By Holly Kozelsky and Pat Pion
100 years ago - 1924
Woody’s Dept. Store in Bassett held a Guessing Contest. Win a free pair of Walkover Shoes: 1. “How many steps would the little man take from the center of the sidewalk to the High School building?” and 2. “How many feet will the walking Walkover Man walk in seven days allowing 15 hours for each day’s walk?”
75 years ago – 1949
A truck driver leapt from his truck in the nick of time, just before it plunged 500 feet down the mountainside near Lover’s Leap in Patrick County. The driver, Clyde Tilley, 23, of North Carolina, told authorities that he had lost control when the wheels locked. He just suffered a slight injury to his leg and managed to walk 8 miles down the mountain, where he reported the accident to the sheriff. It was freezing cold and 1 a.m., but he didn’t have a coat because it had been left in the cab of the truck. The cargo of the truck was 30 or 40 new, empty chicken crates.
Near the Philpott Dam construction site, a 40-year-old lumberman was killed instantly in a freak logging accident. John Spencer’s skull was crushed when a limb fell on him. He had cut one tree and as it fell, it hit another one, knocking off the limb. He was working in the area where the lake would be formed after the dam was completed. He was the brother of T.J., Jess and George Spencer, all of Henry; Mrs. Sam Mize of Greensboro, N.C.; and Mrs. George Martin and Mrs. Charlie Martin, both of Bassett.
1960
Four to eight inches of snow were predicted to blanket the area after the devastation of 13 inches of snow the prior month. It was to be capped off by sleet and freezing rain in the evening. Traffic came to a standstill as slipping and flipping kept local first responders busy throughout the day.
The sewer bonds were approved decisively by a margin of 73 per cent. Some voters in the Druid Hills-Forest Park area which was annexed by the city on January 1 were turned away from the polls for failure to transfer their voter registration from Henry County to Martinsville in a timely manner. Construction on the improvements were to begin within the following three months.
The Women’s Association of Grace Presbyterian church held a World Day of Prayer Service. Mrs. George Rollins directed the service.
50 years ago – 1974
The price to send a letter went up to 10 cents, from the previous 8. Robert E. Phillips was the assistant postmaster at the post office on Spruce Street.
25 years ago – 1999
Bassett Furniture Industries was in the midst of a marketing reboot. It was planning to add 30 Bassett Furniture Direct stores and doubling its marketing expenditures to $30 million.
PHOTO: Removing tobacco from curing barn with the Slate and Moorefield families, Claudville, Patrick County, Virginia; Owen, Blanton, 1949-1998 (Research team member); Library of Congress.
Fleischhauer, Carl (Photographer)
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin accessed on microfilm at the Martinsville Branch Library.