100 YEARS AGO — 1917

Never in the history of Danville has the mud on Main Street been so deep. It is suggested that ferry boats be placed at the principal crossings.

Some of the farmers have so much tobacco on hand that it is necessary to haul to Danville on Sunday, and it is nothing unusual to see a line of wagons passing on the Sabbath. The supply seems to be inexhaustible as the roads are lined with wagons every day.

The February report of the local visiting nurse is as follows: new tubercular cases visited, 1; deaths from tuberculosis, 1; trachoma, 14; births attended, 2; insurance cases, 9; 55 school children have been examined and 27 were found to be in need of surgical or medical attention. Also, donations have been received for the sick loan closet including sheets and pillowcases given by Mrs. A. B. Robertson; fountain syringe by Miss Bagby; and a hot water bottle by Miss Ruth Crow.

Because of heavy snows this winter red birds have frequented the home of J.E. Stormes in Lancaster, where a friendly welcome always awaited them with a lunch of beef suit and grain. No doubt the red birds told their friends, for during the cold days of last week as many as 45 robins were counted at one time in the yard. During the coldest weather, John Ross and John Farra scattered grain over their farms for birds and pheasants, as did others farmers. Sixteen quail came into the yard of R.L. Elkin, where they were well fed and unmolested, and were allowed to depart in peace.

Dr. John Stout, of Danville, has an old, dilapidated American flag and gives some interesting history connected with it. He can prove that it is the identical flag carried by George Washington across the Delaware, then fell into the hands of a company of Kentucky troops who carried it through the Mexican War. The flag was next used in the Civil War, and Dr. Stout says it was flying from the top of the apple tree under which Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox. The doctor values the flag very highly.

75 YEARS AGO — 1942

Edna Mae Neikirk, of Dillehay Street in Danville, was the first baby born in Boyle County in 1942, according to records compiled from the county’s various registrars. The executive director of the Kentucky Sesquicentennial Commission has announced that the first baby born in each county would be the county chairman of the state’s Bicentennial 50 years from now in 1992. Little Miss Neikirk, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Neikirk, was born at 2 o’clock in the morning of Jan. 2, some time earlier than the next reported birth in the county.

 Three armed men, one of them wounded, were arrested on the outskirts of Danville about two hours after they held up and robbed the Bank of Dunnville in Casey County. The bank was supposedly robbed of $1,200, although only $303 was found on the men and in the car. They were carrying two sawed off shotguns and a pistol, all loaded, when Danville Police officers forced them off the road near the entrance to Old Crowe Inn on the Stanford Pike. Edward Townsend, 19, was shot in the right arm by a bullet fired at the car as it pulled away from the bank. Police said one group chased the fleeing car almost 20 miles, from Bethel Ridge to King’s Mountain, at times traveling 95 miles and hour, before losing them.

In accordance with the recommendations of the Library Extension Division, the American Library Association has selected the Young-Rodes Library in Danville for the distribution of war and defense information. The library will will receive pamphlets, posters, books, circulars and other material which will be made available to the public.

50 YEARS AGO — 1967

Open House Day will be held at the new Linnietta Homes, the public housing units at Junction City on Sunday afternoon. The public is invited to visit the site and inspect the units. Grider Furniture Co. of Shelby City, will furnish one of the units, both to give a lived-in look to a single unit and to offer ideas on how they will look with their furnishing when residents have moved in. Linnietta Homes was so named because the project is located on land adjacent to the old Linnietta Springs Health Resort, which flourished in the 1890s and was known throughout Kentucky.

The Trustee Board of the First Baptist Church, Second and Walnut Streets, said that meetings are being held to discuss as to whether or not a new building will be erected following the burning of their church on Dec. 26, or whether the remaining structure will be remodeled. Cecil Cohen, chairman of the finance committee said an insurance settlement is being processed and free-will donations are being accepted.

About 160 signatures have been secured to petitions protesting the enactment of the $10 auto sticker tax on non-residents and threatening a boycott of Danville and Boyle County stores. The petition, which sponsors say will be presented to the Danville Retail Merchants Association, was signed by some workers at Genesco, Palm Beach cutting plant, Bluegrass Coca Cola Bottling, Co. the Carnation Co. and Inter-County REA. The petition reads in part: “We the undersigned employees, residing outside of Boyle County, hereby protest paying the $10 for the Danville Auto Stickers required to bring our cars into Danville, we feel it is unfair for us to have to pay the same amount as those residents in Danville and Boyle County, and in the event we are forced to pay this $10 fee, be advised that none of us will buy anything in the Danville or Boyle County stores.”

25 YEARS AGO — 1992

The Danville City Commission held a day-long session to give residents a chance to voice their wishes for the community over the next 25 years. During each 30-minute segment, ideas were brought out and written down on large sheets of paper then posted for all to see. Some of the ideas brought to the commission’s attention included: merge the city and county government; merge the city and county schools; hold a vote on the sale of alcohol; start curbside recycling; incinerate solid waste; develop U.S. 150 to Louisville; extend West Lexington Avenue across the railroad tracks to U.S. 150; have a full-time director of economic development; build some type of community center; build an apartment complex for retirees; construct a regional park with a swimming pool; maintain historic character of town and county; put all utilities underground; have a brass band museum or other attraction to bring in tourists year round; have public transportation; bring back railroads; and develop walking and bike paths so people don’t have to rely on vehicles so much.

The Boyle County Cemetery Book Committee is proceeding with plans to publish a book listing all the cemeteries in the county. Information on most of the county cemeteries has been compiled over the past few years, and members of the committee with the help of other volunteers are gathering information from Bellevue and Hilldale cemeteries. The book, which can be used as a research tool for genealogists will have over 30,000 names with birth and death dates. In addition to numerous small family graveyards, the book will have listings from city cemeteries in Junction City, Parksville and Perryville.

Wal-Mart in Danville Square shopping center will soon re-open its drop-off recycling center for plastic and aluminum. Wal-Mart in Harrodsburg already has a bin on the lot for collecting certain plastics and aluminum cans. The collection of recyclables was stopped in 1991 because of litter and other problems. The recycling bins will be monitored to make sure the quality of recyclables is good. “One person can use the bins for a trash dump and it ruins the whole load,” said Harlan Bozarth, manager of the Danville Wal-Mart.