Record Staff Report
WHITLEY CITY — This week The McCreary County Record is celebrating its 90th anniversary with this complimentary issue for residents of our beloved county.
Born in the fall of 1919, The McCreary County Record was started by Bell Press, of Oneida, TN. The plant was installed in the poolroom building owned by Stearns Coal & Lumber Company which, later in 1920, bought the paper. The paper's first editor was Mrs. K. W. Dyas. She was succeeded by Mary Elizabeth Henderson Powell.
On December 6, 1922, Ralph Coghlan writing for the Louisville Post said this about the then fledgling Record:
"Another example of the Stearns benevolent monarchism is The McCreary County Record, the only newspaper published in the county. This paper is ably, interestingly, and sometimes brilliantly edited by Mrs. K. W. Dyas, and it is financed by the Stearns Company. It is fashioned after the best standards, and it is in no sense a trade journal. While its policy is, of course, sympathetic with its backers, its news columns report the county's routine with fairness and with a spirit of ethical journalism."
The Record was sold to Somerset businessman Cecil T. Williams in 1928 (when the newspaper began keeping bound volumes). This ownership led to the eventual affiliation of The Record as a sister publication of the Commonwealth-Journal in Somerset. Both newspapers are currently owned by NHI of Birmingham, AL.
From Stearns, the newspaper office moved to Whitley City into the Hatfield-Lavender Building on Courthouse Square where it remained until a 1987 fire forced a relocation into Ruben Hicks’ building nearby. The Record outgrew the space in 2005 and relocated to larger offices located on 48 N. Main Street in Whitley City.
For many years C.W. Hume was editor and publisher of The Record, later being succeeded by Patrick Thomas, Jeff Kerr, Virginia Davis and Ken Shmidheiser.
Jack McNeely, current publisher of the Record, said, "We are pleased to be able to continue a long tradition of fairly, accurately and independently informing the citizens of McCreary County about the news that affects their lives.
“In this age of the internet, we have expanded our reporting and coverage to include our web site‚ www.mccrearyrecord.com‚ where readers across the world now have instant access to news from back home. We are proud to continue The Record's long tradition well into the 21st Century."
In 90 years, The Record has never missed a deadline, even when becoming the top story itself. An office fire in July 1987 led the front page when the paper hit the streets six days later.
While keeping abreast of the latest news, The Record also honors McCreary County’s past. The newspaper’s bound volumes have become a treasure for genealogists and historians, and the popular “Looking Back” column has spawned the publication of one book with another due this fall.
The Record remains dedicated to delivering independent local news to McCreary County and proudly adheres to the motto:
"Pledged to no party’s arbitrary sway, we hew to the lines of truth and edification of our people and let the chips fall where they may."
