Editor’s note — We’re continuing our tradition of taking a look back each Saturday at some of the important, interesting or even odd events as they were reported during the same week throughout the years, along with interesting advertising features from back in the day.
This week in 1877, the Highland Weekly News reported Greenfield “has had an elopement.” The paper described how a married woman “ran off with the wrong man last Saturday week, leaving a babe of 4 months old to the care of her disconsolate husband.”
A letter to the editor lauded Hillsboro as “the model town,” from a stranger’s perspective, dubbing it, “the hill city.”
A pair of itinerant preachers passing through the area conducting revivals were reported to be directly responsible for 167 conversions in church services around the county.
Wet and cool weather had slowed the corn crop and it was feared that “much of what was planted before will rot in the ground.”
This week in 1886, the Hillsboro News-Herald editorial board took to the opinion pages with a message to its contributors making a number of requests. “If you have something you want in the paper, send it to us,” the editorial read. “However, the waste basket catches a great deal of manuscripts, and if yours is not for the information or pleasure of the public, it may find the same lodgment. Profanity is discouraged among the compositors in this office, and let your full name accompany your contribution. If you don’t want to be responsible for your writing, we don’t want to be responsible for publishing it.”
In farm news from Ball Knob and Buford, the plowing for corn was “the order of the day” and “the prospect for a good wheat crop in this section is flattering.”
Hood’s Sarsaparilla was advertised as a good source of “vigor and vitality” for $1 per 100 doses.
An advertisement for the Dr. H.H. Green & Sons practice read, “Dropsy, treated free.”
This week in 1919, The Hillsboro Gazette reported two airplanes with a flying circus crash-landed in Hillsboro after they ran out of gasoline.
The Highland Hog Feeder and Supply Company on West Walnut Street advertised self-feeders for pigs, a new product available at the store.
Ladies’ corset covers were 79 cents at Caldwell & Co. in the Spargur building on East Main Street. Men’s handkerchiefs were 5 cents each and children’s dresses were 79 cents each.
An advertisement for Tip Top Garage on North High Street said, “Through years of experience we have learned to really KNOW cars. Our fund of information is at your service.”
John Van Zandt reportedly broke several bones in his right arm while cranking his Ford. According to the report, Van Zandt held onto the crank too long, and when the Ford backfired, the crank wrenched his arm violently.
This week in 1957, The Hillsboro News Herald reported that Highland County Deputy Sheriff Norman Carson investigated a “fatal” accident near Samantha Monday night, with the fatality being a 300-pound hog than ran into the path of a truck driven by a Leesburg man.
The Wilkin-Wilkin Insurance Co. moved into its new quarters on South High Street, relocating from the second floor of the Farmers & Traders Bank building.
Ohio Bell Telephone Co. announced plans to tear down the existing structures on West Beech Street in Hillsboro to make way for construction of a dial exchange at the location.
Fairley Hardware Store’s spring sale was in its second week, with big savings on Maytag wringer washers for $119.50, portable barbecue grills for $3.88 and a new 10.4-cubic foot Frigidaire refrigerator for $198. Sale prices were good at all Fairley locations in Hillsboro, Wilmington, Blanchester, Waynesville, Lynchburg and Sabina.
Adventure and thrills filled the bill with a pair of action films at the Colony Theatre. Starting Sunday it was Randolph Scott in “The Tall T,” plus “The Adventures of Robin Hood” with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland.
At the Roselawn Drive-In Theatre, it was a rock ‘n roll dream come true “for every cat and gator, from the poles to the equator.” Bill Haley and His Comets, Little Richard, Connie Francis, Chuck Berry and Alan Freed starred in “Don’t Knock the Rock.”
It was a Friday-only coney sale at the Hillsboro Dairy Queen with 20-cent coneys and a coney and root beer float for 35 cents.
The cost to send a letter was 3 cents, and all of the Highland County post offices had 100-stamp coils for $3.
This week in 1981, the Hillsboro Press-Gazette reported K-Mart was offering polyester pants for $4.44, coffee for $1.57 per can, cat food for 77 cents per bag, and Puffs tissues for 68 cents per box.
Highland County future major leaguer Kip Young was the starting pitcher for the Indianapolis Indians in the first game of a twin-bill against Evansville.
Hillsboro police were investigating a vandalism case in which the rear window of a 1979 Ford pickup truck was broken.
Debbie Gorman was shown in a photo holding two mushrooms measuring at least six inches long.
Murphy’s advertised a four-pack of light bulbs for 97 cents, Scope mouthwash for $1.96 and outdoor furniture sets for $99.
Hillsboro residents Vivian and Buzz Ellis were shown meeting country music star Dolly Parton at the opening of Dolly’s Celebrity Theatre and Dollywood Theme Park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Reach Tim Colliver at 937-402-2571.
