Nov. 12
100 Years ago – 1924
Nearly 100 Legionaires and their friends gathered in the Municipal Building to celebrate the sixth anniversary of the signing of Armistice. The meeting featured a dinner prepared by the manager of the Hamilton Hotel and several speakers. A man from overseas talked about the achievements of disabled veterans and their wives. Harry Kester, a veteran of the Spanish-American War, talked about the significance of the War of 98.
75 years ago – 1949
City Fire Marshal Clay Easterly was leading a citywide inspection of heating units in all public buildings. The National Board of Fire Underwriters recently had concluded a 10-year study in which it was revealed that 75% of all fires could be traced to four causes. The second ranked case was defective heating appliances, including stoves, furnaces, pipes and chimneys. The fire department also offered to inspect any home heating facilities, upon request.
1960
This day marked the anniversary that Martinsville made it 3 full years without a major fire. The last big loss was High Street Baptist Church on Fayette Street in November 12, 1957, a loss estimated at $60,000. The biggest individual loss was Mrs. May Thomas’s home at 408 Broad St., which burned on Nov. 1, 1959, and was estimated at $8,000.
Two hundred district Ruritans met at Drewry Mason High School for the convention of the Peaks of Otter District of Ruritan Nationals, which had more than 65 Ruritan Clubs.
50 years ago – 1974
Computerized cash registers and UPC codes printed directly on the label were not in Martinsville yet, but they were coming. The managers of A&P, Winn-Dixie and Kroger said having that system would make for faster, more efficient shopping for the customer. The UPC code would replace the purple stamped-on prices or price stickers that were manually put on each product. Store managers predicted that after the computers and UPC codes had been in place for several years, stores would stop putting the individual prices on the items; customers would just have to pay attention to and remember the price marked on the shelf.
Demolition began on the buildings on the block that now is the parking lot in front of the uptown Post Office and Walsh’s Chicken. Most of the buildings there were vacant and in disrepair, but Busy Bee’s still had been doing a thriving business and the owner did not want to leave.
25 years ago - 1999
Announcement was made that Ashmore Sportswear Inc. would close in January, putting 105 people out of work. The plant was on Virginia Avenue in Collinsville.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.