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Januaries past: 75 years ago.

From LaGrange Daily News, 1938.

Front Page News:

Bidding Brisk on Two Courthouse Contracts — Interest among building and supply companies throughout the South on two contracts to be let in the near future by the Troup County Board of Commissioners of Roads and Revenues for construction and equipping of the new $212,000 courthouse is growing rapidly as the deadline for entering bids approaches.

Already 14 construction and nine office supply companies have secured specifications and plans for the new courthouse from Roberts & Company, architects of the new edifice.

Deadline for placing bids on construction of the building has been set at 11 o’clock Thursday morning, Jan. 27. The deadline for placing bids on office equipment has been set at Feb. 3 by the county commissioners.

Contracts on both jobs will be let as soon after closing of bids as possible.

Sentiment Grows for Courthouse of State Marble — Sentiment was forming here today in support of a Georgia marble courthouse for Troup County.

In the announcement of bids received yesterday by the county Board of Commissioners it was disclosed that a courthouse built of Georgia marble would only cost about $15,000 more than one built of Indiana limestone.

Apparent low bidder on the base contract, calling for the courthouse to be constructed of Indiana limestone, was Algernon Blair, of Montgomery, Ala., with a bid of $187,410 while low bidder on the marble contract, an alternate inserted by the Commissioners in calling for bids, was Newman Construction Company of LaGrange with a bid of $202,480.

Supporters of the marble plan pointed out that in the years to come, the marble would stand up longer and look better than the limestone and would be considerably easier to clean.

It was understood on good authority that a meeting of the board of directors of the LaGrange Chamber of Commerce would be called immediately to feel out businessmen’s views on the subject.

Petitions Request Marble Exterior — Efforts to bring pressure to bear upon the County Commissioners in making their decisions as to the material to be used in construction of Troup County’s new courthouse took the form of several petitions being circulated today in town requesting the Commission to use Georgia marble on the exterior of the new building.

Cornerstone Box Measured Today — Only the thin, but still sturdy, sides of a sealed copper box separated a group of Masons and county officials from the contents of the cornerstone of the old courthouse for a short time today while measurements of the box were sought in order to make a place for it inside the cornerstone of the new courthouse.

Called on to witness the measuring were past Worshipful Masters and members of the Union Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons who are to be custodians of the box until it is again placed in the new courthouse alongside a new box. Local Masons officiated at the laying of the old cornerstone back in 1904, when the old building was constructed.

LaGrange High School Club is Best in Georgia — LaGrange High School’s five-year-old Tri-Hi-Y organization today ranks first in the state of Georgia among 40 such organizations.

Graded on a 10-point efficiency standard, the LaGrange club polled 74 percent for the highest mark with the Douglas girls’ organization coming in second with a mark of 71 percent.

The state Tri-Hi-Y conference was held in LaGrange last year and Sybil Adams, LHS student, served as president of the state group last year.

Officers of the winning club this year are: Virginia Rutland, president; Frances Lehman, vice president; Marjorie Brawner, secretary; and Margaret Fleeth, treasurer.

Possibility of Street Signs for LaGrange — The Board of Directors of the LaGrange Chamber of Commerce has adopted a resolution calling for an investigation of possible means to mark the streets of LaGrange properly in an effort to make traveling in the city easier for those living here and for visitors.

Northern Lights Seen Here; Caused Moments of ‘Fright’ — While scientists the world over marveled at the magnitude of the Aurora Borealis, sighted late yesterday afternoon as far south as Georgia, residents of LaGrange, who witnessed the ruddy display in the northern skies, had various reactions.

Some said the northern section of the city was afire; some thought of the end of the world; others confessed being completely baffled; still others said, “sign of cold weather;” and some thought the bright red hues covering the northern skies were the seldom seen Aurora Borealis. This was the first time they have been seen here since the turn of the century.

Science explains that the Aurora Borealis is caused by magnetic storms and, in reality, are gigantic neon tubes of the stratosphere — the gases of the upper air touched off by the electricity of the magnetic storms high above the earth.

Julia Dyar, a retired journalist, is active in the Troup County Historical Society.