Feb. 10 through the years

100 Years ago – 1926

A national park was being planned for Virginia – Shenandoah National Park. To fund it, the state set quotas required of areas of the state. The Fifth Region comprised the counties of Pittsylvania, Halifax, Charlotte, Henry, Patrick and Franklin, asked to contribute a total of $198,000 ($3,605,000 in today’s dollars).

75 years ago – 1951

There had been a couple of unusually cold days, but then Deputy Sheriff Warren Bolejack predicted that warm weather was about to come to Martinsville. He based his prediction on the fact that messages broadcast from Mexico City were received at the sheriff’s office where there was a two-way radio set. The Spanish words of the speaker were heard quite clearly. Each time the sheriff’s office had picked up messages from Mexico City, warm weather followed.

50 years ago – 1976

Six juniors and 11 seniors at Patrick County High School were building a three-bedroom house under instructor Robert Hoyle. The house was financed with a $25,000 construction loan from Patrick County Bank, which waived the $250 bank charge but charged 8.25% interest on the loan. To get the loan, a corporation was formed by the Building Trades Class students. When finished, the house, expected to be worth $35,000, would be auctioned to the highest bidder.

25 years ago - 2001

Nationwide Homes of Martinsville announced a record-breaking year, with revenues of $600 million during 2000, an increase of 8.5% over the 1999 figure of $55.5 million.

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