Oct. 14
100 Years ago – 1924
The newspaper column submitted by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union chapter in Ridgeway included this: “Conditions were never better. The working men of drink-cursed countries look with envy upon the prosperous laborers of the dry United States, who are employed at good wages the year round, live in their own homes and ride in their own cars. The years since national prohibition went into effect have been banner years for good health.”
75 years ago – 1949
Lucy Manns, a 28-year-old black woman who lived on Amy Avenue, sat on a seat near the front of a Trailways bus that ran from Martinsville to Mount Airy. She was asked to move after a white passenger complained, but she would not. The driver called police, and she was arrested and fined $20 and court costs and sentenced to 30 days in jail for disturbing the peace.
1960
City traffic and planning engineer Irving McGhee was trying out a new method of marking crosswalks: with a thin layer of composition plastic glued down, instead of paint. They would last five or six years, saving money over the need of continual paint and labor. The experiment began at the intersection of Starling Avenue, Memorial Boulevard and Askin Street.
50 years ago – 1974
Jim Childs was the chief carver for Stanley Furniture Co. He started out with a degree in industrial arts from Virginia Tech in 1963, then spent four years teaching at Bassett and Fieldale-Collinsville high schools, before joining Stanley. He headed a molding and pattern department with three men. It made the molds for decorative additions to furniture such as dressers and mirrors. Stanley was a pioneer in the use of plastic components for furniture, selling the first such products in 1966. Once a mold is made, it can be used to make exact replicas for a fraction of the time it took to make the master piece, for example, several days to create decorative molding for a mirror versus 8 minute to make a reproduction in a mold.
25 years ago - 1999
A meeting was held at the Monroe Koger Hall of Fairway Baptist Church for residents of Fairway Acres, Westwood and Rock Hill in the Stone’s Dairy area to voice their complaints about problems with water and sewage problems there. Those complaints would be forwarded to Gov. Jim Gilmore, promised coordinator Michele Smith. Officials from the Virginia Department of Health and state Department of Environmental Quality attended, as did 125 residents of the area. Most of the residents got their water and sewage service from Sanville Utilities Corp. Westwood resident and Sanville Utilities customer Lovetta Franklin poured each state official a glass of tap water from her home and asked them to sample it, but none would. The owner of the system, who lived on Mulberry Road, was arrested Oct. 1 and charged with failure to continue normal operations of a sewage treatment facility.
The new Martinsville Farmer’s Market opened where it is now, between Church and Main streets by Moss Street. Martinsville Mayor Mark Crabtree welcomed the crowd.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.