About

Although there were rumors of a coming evening daily paper by January 1894, J. E. Gardner, a well-known local job printer, did not publish the first issue of the Athens Evening News until late November 1894. The Evening News circulated every evening except Sundays and, similar to Athens’ morning daily the Athens Daily Banner, supported the Democratic Party. The establishment of cheaper evening daily papers is a trend that emerged in late-19th century urban centers, and the Evening News continued this trend by carrying a subscription cost of three dollars, two dollars cheaper than the Daily Banner. In September 1895, Gardner sold his paper to the News Printing Company, a stock company formed by R. M. Cheshire, W. B. Patillo, and Clem G. Moore. The paper’s next issue expanded from a four-column sheet to six and listed R. M. Cheshire as managing editor. By December 1895, however, the Evening News ceased publication. In a valedictory editorial, which the Athens Weekly Banner of December 26, 1895 summarized, Cheshire remarked ‘if those who made promises had kept them, Athens might have had a good paper.’