The following events occurred during the week of Dec. 9-15 in Bell County:

1889: Professor E. L. Grubbs opened a private graded school over Charles Whitaker’s store on East Cumberland Ave.

1890: The first issue of “The Weekly Herald” went to press. The editor was D. E. McDowell, who later became Mayor of Middlesboro.

1892: King Soloman’s Cave (now called Gap Cave or Cudjo’s Caverns) was lighted with electricity.

1906: Wet-dry election in the city of Middlesboro was won by the “wets” 422 to 403.

1918: Adrian Weinstein, son of Herman W. Weinstein and an accomplished violinist, was asked to join the Cincinnati College of Music Orchestra.

1924: The Community Christmas tree was set up at 20th and Cumberland. There was to be a revival of the old English custom of caroling around the tree.

1925: Crowds in front of the “Daily News” office marveled at the “Printer” telegraph machines being installed for the reception of International News Service press material.

1945: After reporting shots being fired on Cumberland Ave. in front of The Hub, the paper commented, “There has been an epidemic of shootings and killings all over the county since the election.”

1948: Edwin Rudolph, five time pool champion and straight shot expert, beat local legend Bill Hurst 125 to 104 in a match at the Sports Center. After the match, Rudolph gave an exhibition of trick shots.

1948: Contract was let for replacing the five bridges over the canal on Cumberland Avenue near the American Association Building. These were constructed in 1890. There were two bridges for pedestrians, two for vehicular traffic and one for the street railroad. They had deteriorated to the point that only one lane was open to traffic.

1953: The Middlesboro Athletics advanced to a class C league as part of the Mountain States League. A special tribute was paid to the owner, Roscoe Allen, by the National Association of Professional Baseball at its Atlanta meeting.

1968: County Attorney William S. Tribell was shot and killed while helping to track a Frakes man who was wanted in connection with the killing of three youths in Claiborne County. Tribell often went on raids with other county law enforcement officers.

To learn more about local history, visit the Bell County Museum, located just north of the Middlesboro Post Office, Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.