Nov. 18 in 1925, 1950, 1975, 2000
100 Years ago – 1925
At a meeting of the Booster Club, Mr. J.L. Branch representing the State Chamber of Commerce urged the formation of a local Chamber of Commerce. The 30 Booster members voted unanimously to do so. The speaker noted that the Kiwanis Club had been doing much of the work that a Chamber does, and a new Chamber of Commerce would not interfere with the efforts of the Kiwanis. The new organization would be called the Henry County Chamber of Commerce with headquarters in Martinsville. The board of directors would be 15 men of significance in the community. The board would elect officers; the secretary would be paid to work full time for the Chamber. The board of directors chosen were: J.E. Howard, J.C. Hooker, O.D. Ford, S. Heiner, J.D. Bassett, H.A. Ford, J. Frank Wilson, A.D. Witten, R.S. Brown, C.W. Holt, C.B. Keesee, J.C. Greer, T.G. Burch, A.L. Tuggle and E.J. Davis.
75 years ago – 1950
The G.T. Lester Sr. family offered the city land worth $217,000 (slightly more than $2 million in today’s dollars) as a right-of-way for a proposed bypass crossing the northern part of the city. City Council agreed. Following Mr. Lester’s stipulations, the City had 8 years to spend $30,000 on grading the street. The first money spent on the proposed route would be building a bridge across the Danville and Western railroad at the end of Fairy Street near Route 58. If the City did not spend $30,000 in 8 years, the land would revert to the Lesters. The proposed street would leave Route 220 near the corporate limits at Lester Brothers Lumber Co., go east along Jones Creek, come out at Liberty Street near the Liberty Heights Swimming Pool, go south to a new service station on the Lester Airport property, go east again passing by the Lester Lumber Company office, and go parallel with the D&W railroad right-of-way and emerge near the intersection of Routes 57 and 58 near Fairy Street.
50 years ago – 1975
The new Catholic priest (back when the Catholic church was on the corner of Church Street Extension and Booker Street) was the Rev. James Harry Bonomo. His style was new and modern: He had long hair and a beard and wore sandals.
25 years ago – 2000
The wreckage of a plane which had been missing since Nov. 10 was found on Bull Mountain in Patrick County. The Piper PA 28 single-engine plane was found badly burned and with one person confirmed dead. A search for the plane had been going on since Nov. 10, and the plane was found by the Civil Air Patrol.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.