September 2
100 Years ago – 1924
Moore’s Interstate bus line had just started service between Martinsville and Winston-Salem, N.C. The company noted that its fares were the same as railroad fares, give or take a cent or two in either direction. The service had been going for a few weeks and would add another car to the line if demand called for it.
75 years ago – 1949
The third case of infantile paralysis (polio) of the season in Martinsville was of Jerry Mays Doss, 4, of Ellsworth Street. He was treated at the Medical College of Virginia for what was said to be a mild case. At the same time, Richard P. Gravely III was in an iron lung in a Richmond hospital. He had bulbar polio, which attacks the respiratory system. The first polio victim of the season had been Lora Labovsky, 2 ½, of Finley Street. She was in a Richmond hospital for polio which affected her lower limbs.
Dairy cows sold by Joe Scales at an auction at his Axton farm brought an average of $300 per head, with prices ranging from $175 to $625. He sold 90 cows, mostly Holsteins, with plans to change over to beef production. In the previous year, Henry County breeders purchased about 1,000 cows.
1960
A new model club, Model Maniacs, formed in Martinsville. Offices were Rev. Dave Worley, president; Bruce Lupton, vice president; Kennie Coleman, reporter; Jimmy Mays, secretary; and Billy Gilbert, treasurer. The purpose of the club was to help young boys build all sorts of models, such as planes, cars or boats. The group would follow the rules and laws of the Academy of Model Aeronautics in Washington DC.
50 years ago – 1974
It was opening night of the Henry County Fair, and 1,000 people attended, despite the rain. The fair was sponsored and produced by the 107-member Exchange Club, of which Jim McMillan was president. The club and the carnival’s owner, Royce Green, had a 3-year contract to hold the fair on the Liberty Heights Fairground.
Ad for Miracle Clothiers, Holiday Shopping Center: “Notice to Well-Dressed Men: We are over stocked with men’s short & large sizes suits, sportscoats, slacks. We have waist sizes to 5 feet around.”
25 years ago - 1999
The Martinsville Police Department had 10 patrol cars with laptop computers. The main computer was in Lt. James R. Minter Jr’s office. “The technology is unbelievable,” Minter told the Bulletin. “It puts it [information] right at your fingertips.” The computers had modems that ran off an RF frequency. The next phase would be to hook the computers into the communications center, which would make dispatch calls appear on their screens. It was estimated that it would take until the following spring to get that done. The system was mostly funded by block grants: The department had received a grant of $129,860, with $32,465 from the city and the rest from the federal government. The 10 laptops were paid for by $139,000 which came mostly from the city with about a quarter from a block grant.
Corey Mayo, 13, woke from the coma he had been in since Aug. 25. He had been hit by a vehicle on the first day of school when he was walking to the bus stop.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.