100 years ago – January 23, 1919
Healdsburg banks enjoy prosperous year
The banking institutions of Healdsburg held their annual meetings a week ago and elected their directors and officers for the coming year, placing at the head of their various banks the same men who have served for several years. The directors for the Healdsburg National and Healdsburg Savings Banks are as follows: Geo. C. Alexander, W. Goddard, Ira H. Rosenberg, J. W. Seawell, A. E. Burnham, H. C. Frost, Frank Passalacqua, Fred McConnell and Geo. H. Warfield. The directors for the First National and Farmers & Mechanics Savings Banks are as follows: Eli Bush, J. T. Coffman. J. H. Gunn, J. A. McMinn, J. H. Miller and C. W. Weaver. The banking institutions all report a most favorable year just closed, their assets increasing materially over the corresponding period one year previous.
75 years ago – January 14, 1944
Locally shot movie screens in Plaza
The premiere of the long-awaited motion picture “Happy Land,” based on MacKinlay Kantor’s best seller, is scheduled for the Plaza Theatre at midnight on Saturday, Jan. 22. Other showings will be on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Healdsburg people are awaiting the opportunity to see their loved town used as the setting for the movie on the screen, and to recognize townsfolk who acted as extras in the scenes shot in this vicinity. Outdoor scenes were shot here as well as in Santa Rosa.
25 years ago – January 5, 1994
Sprouse closing after 50 years
After more than a half century, the Sprouse-Reitz name will no longer be a part of Healdsburg’s downtown shopping scene. A final liquidation sale is now under way and store officials said the Sprouse-Reitz chain will quit all business by the end of February. The local variety store has 11 part-time employees. At one time Sprouse-Reitz operated 300 stores in nine western states. Sprouse-Reitz has been a part of Healdsburg since at least 1940 when it was owned by F.W. Westfall, who also owned the Ben Franklin store. The closing follows the shuttering of the J.C. Penney store two blocks away. Sprouse manager Bob Roberts said that, “Healdsburg is losing everything to Windsor. It’s going to impact the tax base here and it gets harder and harder to generate hometown business. The town needs to be more aggressive to bring new retailers here.”
