Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Barrow It Journal
Vol. 8 No. 41
28 PAGES 2 SECTIONS plus inserts
A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680
Local newspapers merge
The Barrow County News, one of the oldest
continually operating businesses in Barrow
County, has been acquired by Mainstreet
Newspapers, Inc., of Jefferson and has been
merged with the Barrow Journal to become
a single newspaper and website serving the
people of Barrow County.
The July 31 edition of the Barrow County
News was the final publication under the
ownership of Swartz-Morris Media head
quartered in Cumming. This issue is the first
combined edition.
Mainstreet Newspapers, Jefferson, is owned
by Mike and Scott Buffington, second-gener
ation publishers of the family firm which
publishes six weekly newspapers in North
east Georgia.
“By combining the resources of the Barrow
County News and the Barrow Journal, the
community and our readers will be better
served by a stronger combined newspaper,”
said Scott Buffington, co-publisher of Main-
street Newspapers, Inc., Jefferson, the parent
firm of the Barrow Journal. “We will do
everything we can to make this transition
easy for both our advertisers and our sub
scribers.”
The merged newspapers will be delivered
to subscribers via mail on a weekly basis and
will be available in stores and news racks
around Barrow County.
Customers can continue to use the current
Barrow County News phone numbers, email
and P.O. Box information in the coming
weeks during the transition to a merged oper
ation. The newspaper will operate from the
current Journal office at 77 East May Street,
NEWS OFFICE
Combined newspaper operations in Barrow
County will take place at 77 East May Street,
Winder, beginning this week.
Winder. Office hours will be 8:30 a.m. to 5
p.m. Mondays through Fridays. The current
office of the Barrow County News at West
Athens Street will be closed.
Barrow County News reporters, Scott
Thompson and Charles Phelps, have taken
positions with MainStreet Newspapers.
The name of the newly merged newspaper
has not yet been determined.
The Barrow County News traces its origins
to before Barrow County existed. In 1893,
a newspaper called The Jackson Economist
opened in Winder, which was then part of
Jackson County.
The newspaper underwent a number of
changes in name and ownership in the 123
years since its debut. It was published as The
Winder News from 1913 until 2000, when
that publication merged with The Barrow
Eagle and became the Barrow County News.
The merger of the two newspapers will
allow the community to be served by a single
entity with improved news reporting resourc
es and greater potential for helping advertis
ers boost their businesses.
“The Barrow County News has a long and
distinguished history dating back to 1893,”
said Mainstreet Newspapers co-publisher
Mike Buffington. “It has had some legend
ary publishers and editors, including Harry
O. Smith, Myles Godfrey, Kenneth Hudgins,
Johnny Solesbee and certainly its current
long-time publisher Debbie Burgamy. Com
bining that rich history and tradition with the
Barrow Journal will create one of the stron
gest community newspapers in the state.”
In addition to the Barrow Journal, the
Mainstreet Newspapers publishing family
includes The Jackson Herald, The Commerce
News, The Braselton News, The Banks Coun
ty News and The Madison County Journal.
Charles Hill Morris, regional publisher for
Swartz-Morris Media, said Barrow County
has been a great community in which to oper
ate a business, but that the combining of the
two publications would better serve the over
all needs of the community and the news
papers. Swartz-Morris Media had operated
the Barrow County News since purchasing it
from the New York Times Company in 1994.
“Our long-time publisher, Debbie Burgamy,
has devoted her professional career to mak
ing the newspaper the best it can be and to
serving the Barrow County community,” said
Morris. “We are very proud of Debbie, her
entire staff and everything they have done.”
Transition
contact
information
Phone:
770-867-7557 or
770-867-6397.
Email: mike@
mainstreetnews .com.
Mailing
Label Below
Historical timeline of Barrow publications
April 1893 — The Jackson Economist
founded, edited by M.D. Erwin. At the
time, Jug Tavern (Winder) was in Jack-
son County, hence the name.
1907 — Paper owned by Robert O.
Ross.
1908 — Name changed to The Winder
Weekly.
1913 — Name changed to The Winder
News.
1914 — Barrow County is created.
1921 — Paper sold to J.W. McWhorter
and J.B. Parham. They buy out a com
peting weekly, The Barrow Times.
1925 — Parham leaves the paper. C.H.
Cook becomes part owner.
pany owned by Harry O. Smith, John
E. Stoddard and Owen Walker. Smith
becomes editor.
1940 — Smith and his wife buy out
Stoddard and Walker and become sole
owners of the newspaper.
1942 — Smith is called to active mil
itary duty and turns over the editor
ship to Margaret Mattox Stoddard, the
daughter of John E. Stoddard who
helped buy the newspaper in 1939.
1946 — Smith returns from military
duty and resumes his task as editor.
1963 — Smith is appointed State Direc
tor of Selective Service. The demands
of that job in Atlanta force him to turn
over the day-to-day operations of the
paper to W.E. Atkinson, Jr.
1975 — The Winder News moves to 102
West Midland Avenue.
1977 — Johnny Solesbee becomes editor.
1980 — Myles Godfrey becomes pub
lisher.
1987 — The Winder News and Gwin
nett Daily News are sold to the New
York Times Company.
1990 — Debbie Burgamy becomes
publisher.
1994 — The New York Times sells The
Winder News and a sister newspaper
in Forsyth County to Swartz-Morris
Media, Inc. headquartered in Cumming.
1996 — The Winder News begins pub
lishing two days a week.
1934 — McWhorter sells his interest
in the paper to Thomas M. Sewell. The
firm buys out a 10-month old competi
tor, The Winder Leader.
1935 — A competing weekly, The
Enterprise, is published for a short
time, then goes out of business.
1937 — Sewell buys Cook’s interest in
The Winder News, becoming the sole
owner.
1939 — Sewell sells the newspaper
to The Winder News Publishing Corn-
1964 — Newspaper operations move
from the Rogers Building to the Henry
Peskin Building.
1965 — The Winder News goes from
“hot” type production to “cold type”
offset printing.
1972 — Smith sells The Winder News
to The News Company of Lawrencville,
publishers of the Gwinnett Daily News
owned by Robert Fowler and Louis
Fockele. Kenneth Hudgins becomes
editor and publisher of The News.
2000 — Swartz-Morris buys out The
Barrow Eagle, a competing weekly
operated by former News publisher
Godfrey. The paper is renamed the Bar-
row County News.
2008 — The Barrow Journal begins
publication and is owned by the Buff
ington family in Jefferson under the
corporate name, Mainstreet Newspa
pers, Inc.
2016 — The Barrow Journal and the
Barrow County News merge under own
ership of Mainstreet Newspapers, Inc.
