Instead, when they opened it, they set off the bomb that was inside, killing Thomas and severely injuring Elise.Ĭlues from the crime scene eventually led investigators in northwestern North Carolina, and to Dr. When they received a package in the mail, the couple assumed it was a wedding present. Just one month before his death, Thomas had married his wife Elise, who had previously worked for Dr. However, what the dentist would become notorious for was his involvement in the murder of Curry Thomas, a Virginia farmer, in 1936. Hege can now boast of one of the most completely equipped dental parlors in the state.” With the addition of a new X-ray machine in his office, the Mount Airy News wrote in a 1921 article that “with this addition to his already modernly equipped office Dr. The dentist had lived and practiced in Mount Airy for more than 25 years and was by all accounts had many connections to the community and was very well respected.ĭr. Hege’s practice was located on the second floor of the building, with Holcomb Hardware below. Under John Midkiff’s ownership, the store expanded, adding on a large storage warehouse located at the rear of the store, and also installed a modern (for its era) sprinkler system on the four floors of the building, making it the first store in town to have this fire prevention method.Īlong with the flourishing business that the building housed, it also saw its share of the darker side of life. In this incarnation, the store sold everything from wagons to tobacco and farming supplies. Its owner, John H Midkiff knew the building well, having been a resident of Mount Airy for the previous 21 years, and was an employee of F. The building then changed hands to Holcomb Hardware, and then over to Midkiff Hardware. L Smith Hardware benefited greatly from all this new industry. As such, hardware stores became ubiquitous along Main Street. With the town of Mount Airy in boom and various industries springing up, there was high demand in the town for building supplies. One of its early incarnations was as the F. Now known as the Main Oak building, and constructed sometime between 19, it has gone through countless renovations and changes, yet still retains many of its original details, such as its arched windows on the upper floor and its iconic, large storefront windows. The building has occupied this corner for more than a century and has withstood all the changes that have occurred on the streets surrounding it. The doctor committed suicide while in jail, awaiting trail on murder charges in the death of a Virginia farmer who married one of the doctor’s former employees.Ī large, four-story building stands on the corner of North Main and East Oak Street in downtown Mount Airy, at 252 North Main Street. This is a picture of the Main Oak building from the 1980s. Photo courtesy of Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. The photo shows local law officials posing with captured liquor stills and bootleg whiskey. Prohibition-era photograph, likely taken at the same time Mount Airy’s speakeasy was in operation in the Main Oak building.
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