October 26 through the years

100 Years ago – 1925

After 8 months of work, the copper toll telephone line between Martinsville and Roanoke, by way of Rocky Mount, and the copper line between Fieldale and Stuart were finished. Constructions gangs of between 6 and 15 men did the work. The gap between Rocky Mount and Roanoke had been finished in 1924, as was the gap between Martinsville and Bassett. Most of those lines were owned by the Franklin County Telephone Company except the part in Roanoke County, which was owned by the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company. A new common battery telephone plant was being built in Stuart. It consisted of one of the latest improved common battery switchboards.

75 years ago – 1950

A week after it started, the strike at Fontaine Converting Works ended. The Textile Workers Union of America, CIO called off the strike and accepted the company’s offer of a pay increase of between 8 and 10 cents an hour instead of the 20 cents an hour it had wanted.

50 years ago – 1975

Margaret Weaver of Indian Trail shared this recipe for Watergate Cake: Combine 1 package of white or yellow cake mix, 3 eggs, 1 cup club soda or ginger ale, 2/3 cup oil, 1 package of instant pistachio pudding and ¼ cup of any kind of nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Ice it with a frosting made of 2 packages whipped topping mix, 1 ¼ cup milk and 1 package instant pistachio pudding, whipped until stiff.

25 years ago - 2000

During a routine safety inspection, the Virginia Department of Transportation found problems with the iron bridge across the Smith River in Fieldale. The bridge had been built in 1931. It was not an immediate danger, but engineers figured the bridge had between 5 and 10 years left of use.

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