August 23 through the years
100 Years ago – 1925
A four-room schoolhouse was being proposed for the Firestone Brick Yards and Stanley Furniture Company area, due to the fast growth in population. A machinery and real estate tax yielding $150 per year would take 20 years to pay off the proposed $3,000 school building. In the previous year the school board had employed two teachers for that community. Stanley president T.B. Stanley said there were about 85 children in the community.
More than 60 people attended the E.H. Carter Re-union at the old Carter home, and by the Carter family cemetery, about 5 miles southwest of Martinsville. Three local ministers spoke at the event: Rev. Wilfried Roach, Rev. Chas. M. Wales and Doctor McCabe.
75 years ago – 1950
Martin’s Sandwich Shop on Sawmill Hill in Fieldale (phone 3151) offered plate lunches and private dining. It served steaks, chops, sandwiches and chicken-in-the-basket.
Mrs. R.C. Leibe Jr. was the new manager of the new Glamor Shop. The first Glamor Shop opened in Martinsville 11 years prior, and since then, it grew to a chain of 30 stores across the Southern states. The Glamour Shop sold women’s clothing, and its Litte Miss Glamour Shop on the mezzanine floor sold clothes for girls up to 14 years old. The store was decorated in colors of soft rose, greens, greys and orchids, and the carpet was rose-patterned. The entire store was air-conditioned. Mrs. Leibe’s husband was the vice-president and general manager of store operations for the company.
Another 1,700 people attended the Henry County Industrial Exposition run by the Kiwanis Club. Entertainment included a variety show and a hillbilly band led by Tommy Magness. Hazel Whitlow performed, and also, Paul Zimmerman and his orchestra.
50 years ago – 1975
Between 2,000 and 3,000 people attended the bluegrass music festival at Leatherwood Park, hosted by Jim Eanes. Musicians Doc and Merle Watson, Ralph Stanley, Wilma Lee, Stoney Cooper and the Clinch Mountain Clan and the McPeak Brothers performed.
25 years ago - 2000
Federal and local investigators were investigating the scene of a fire that destroyed Harris Grocery in Axton. Marvin Harris, 51, of Axton, had been ordered to forfeit the store property during his sentencing on March 7, when he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, cocaine trafficking and possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense. Cathy Harris had possession of the property and was operating the store.
Taylor Junior Solomon, 43, of Ridgeway dies in a single-vehicle wreck on U.S. 220. His 1999 Chevrolet S-10 pickup flipped after it hit a guardrail, about a mile north of the state border.
The nation was crazed over the new television show “Survivor.” On this night, Richard Hatch won the $1 million prize by being the last person to make it on a tropical island.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.