Sept. 6
100 Years ago – 1924
Ad for C.W. Holt & Co. – Gunmetal Compacts, $1; Children’s Gingham School Dresses, fast color, $1; Luggage for the college girl or boy Wardrobe, Steamer and Dress Trunks, Moderately priced; Allen A “Black Cat” Hosiery for school wear – 3 pairs $1; Sweaters for College or Hi, Five weaves and as many styles - $3 to $10; Wednesday – Our first presentation of “The Autumn Modes of the Hour” in smart hats for the College Girl – Town wear or for the country - $4 to $15. Women’s Knitted Union Suits for Women: Built up shoulder, loose knew, built up shoulder, tight knee, Bodice top, open knee, Bodice top, tight knee. Ideal weight for early fall and winter wear – sizes to 44 - $1.
75 years ago – 1949
A car crash in western Henry County, off Route 58 into Horsepasture Creek, resulted in the deaths of five of the men in the car: Walter Hancock, 28; John Mize, 30; John Reed Lester, 23; Richard Allen Miles, 30; and William Frank Redd, 33. Aubrey Joyce, 23, suffered a concussion. They all were from the Spencer and Horsepasture area.
The Supreme Court of Virginia agreed to review the cases of the Martinsville Seven. The motion was filed by Martin A. Martin, an attorney from Richmond. He asked for appeals on the ground that the Martinsville circuit court made “numerous errors of law” in how the cases were handled. The men originally had been sentenced to electrocution in July, but those dates were postponed to Sept. 16 and Sept. 23.
Jesse Frank Wilson, secretary of the Henry County Conservation Association, announced that 1,800 acres in Henry County had been planted in tobacco. In the year before, it was 1,146 acres.
1960
Director Jack Burgess of the new Community Center in Martinsville hosted James Black, the director of the Bassett Recreation Center, which just had opened in June. As the two men toured the Martinsville center, they compared their centers. The Bassett center‘s pools had been used by 10,000 people during the 61 days they had been open, and a similar number of people had used the bowling alleys. The Martinsville center had an indoor pool. That center would open as soon as the building inspectors gave the final OK.
50 years ago – 1974
Henry County Circuit Court denied the Axton-Laurel Park Lions Club a permit to operate a bingo game in the county. The club had appealed to the court after the Henry County Board of Supervisors earlier had denied their application. The law required that an organization must have been in existence and meeting regularly for 2 years before applying for a bingo permit, but the club only had been chartered in June 1973 then applied for the permit a year later.
25 years ago - 1999
One-Stop Cellular in Liberty Fair Mall offered cell phones on sale. One phone with a cord, case and 100 minutes cost $20 a month, and two phones with two cords, two cases and 100 shared minutes cost $34.95 a month.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.