Many Newspapers Have Served the County

Many newspapers have served Transylvania County since the late 1800s.  In 1955 The Transylvania Times ran a contest asking folks to bring in the earliest local newspaper they owned.  Mrs. J.W. McMinn won $10 when she brought in the July 22, 1887 issue of Transylvania Pioneer.  It was volume 1, number 1.

The front page, which was reproduced, includes a letter from E.S. Warrock stating the goals of the paper, a list of Town of Brevard Ordinances, an article about surveying for the Greenville & Knoxville Railroad to run through Transylvania and Haywood counties and general news items from the southeast.

Other 19th century papers included The French Broad Hustler, The French Broad Voice, The Transylvania Hustler, The Brevard Hustler and The Brevard Leader.  The Sylvan Valley News began in late 1895 and continued until 1917, when it became The Brevard News. 

For a time The French Broad Hustler and Sylvan Valley News were both published in Brevard until the The French Broad Hustler moved to Hendersonville.

Most of these early newspapers operated for relatively short periods of time and little evidence of their existence remains.  The library has on microfilm, one edition each of The Brevard Hustler, The Transylvania Hustler, and The Brevard Leader from the 1890s, as well as one issue of the Sylvan Valley News from 1900 and one from 1902.

The earliest actual newspaper available in the Local History Room is The French Broad Voice from May 18, 1888.  Much of the news within this paper is not local.  There was an article on the railroad survey through the county from Greenville and obituaries for Alex D.B. Allison and Mary Lila Henning. 

Beginning in 1903 the microfilm holdings at the Library become more complete with only occasional gaps. 

The largest gaps in The Transylvania Times holdings are October 1931 - December 1932, July 1940 - March 1941 and April - August 1953.  If you have any papers from those dates the Library is interested in helping preserve them.  

The Sylvan Valley News (1900-1916) and The Brevard News (1917-1922) are also available at digitalnc.org.

A column in the October 8, 1931 edition of The Brevard News  welcomes The Transylvania Times, a new newspaper in the county.  James T. Fain was the editor and C.M. Ogle the business manager.  Miss Alma Trowbridge ran the local office, which was located in the former Chamber of Commerce rooms of the Breese building.   The paper was printed in Hendersonville though.  The two newspapers co-existed through the end of December 1932 when The Brevard News ceased publication. 

Researchers use these old newspapers to learn about the community, early businesses, industries, organizations, churches and much more.  Genealogists use the collection to find out about their families through news stories and obituaries.

                 

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library.  Visit the NC Room during regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional photographs.  For more information, comments or suggestions contact Marcy at marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-3151 X242.

ABOVE:

Banners from early Transylvania County newspapers, including Transylvania Pioneer, July 22, 1887; French Broad Voice, May 18, 1888; The Transylvania Hustler, November 2, 1893; The Brevard Hustler, April 30, 1896; The Brevard Leader, June 22, 1899 and Sylvan Valley News, November 30, 1900.