May 24 through the years

100 Years ago – 1925

George Stone of Axton, a rural route mail carrier on Route 2, had an unusual animal arrangement in his house: a mother cat who was nursing two kittens and two baby squirrels. The squirrels were brought in 2 weeks prior and were given to the cat to dispose of in the usual manner, but instead, she began rearing them with her kittens.

75 years ago – 1950

A public hearing on the topic of federal low-rent housing for Martinsville lasted about an hour. It was led by John Webber, a Martinsville contractor who previously had served as secretary for the Danville Housing Authority. He said that in Danville the so-called slum areas never paid enough taxes to provide their areas with essential public utilities. He called the slum areas a cancer which spread. However, he said, public housing was successful in Bristol. The Martinsville Special Housing Committee ended the public hearing by saying it still needed more information.

50 years ago – 1975

Firemen were scheduled to set fire to several condemned and abandoned houses on Brookdale Street this week, but someone got a jump on things: One of the houses burnt down, and it was suspected to be arson.

It was opening day of Fairy Stone State Park’s summer season, and a 9-year-old boy from Roanoke, Mike Tyler, drowned in the swimming area. The boy had been with a group, and his parents were not there at the time. About 100 people were in the swimming area at the time of the drowning.

25 years ago - 2000

Henry County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jack Dalton, 72, died. For 24 years he represented the Collinsville District. He had been sick since the start of the year and spent the week before his death in the hospital. He was remembered as a hardworking, fair and honest public servant.

— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.