Georgia Historic Newspapers

H. A. Wrench began publishing the Independent Headlight in 1878 in Dalton, Georgia. In January 1881, the paper changed its title to the Dalton Argus under the new ownership of W. E. Jefferson and Sam Farnesworth. Clerk of Whitfield Superior court Henry C. Hamilton and stenographic reporter Charles B. Willingham purchased the Dalton Argus in June 1881 before again selling the paper to H. A. Wrench the following year. The politically independent Argus circulated weekly and competed against Whitfield County’s Democratic paper and legal organ, the North Georgia Citizen. The Argus again changed ownership in the early 1890s when A. H. Shaver purchased interest in the paper. Shaver in turn sold the Dalton Argus to B. L. Heartsill in 1901. Heartsill ran the paper for over a decade and under his ownership he began daily publication under the Daily Argus banner. Heartsill eventually sold the Argus to R. A. Johnstone in July 1911. The Dalton Argus plant suffered a fire in January 1912 that destroyed its printing equipment. The paper temporarily continued publication with the help of the North Georgia Citizen, before going out of business by the following month. Jesse Smith purchased the Argus in May 1912 and temporarily resumed its publication. The Dalton Record then purchased the Dalton Argus in March 1913 and continued weekly circulation of the paper. By June 1913, the paper was out of print.

Provided by: Digital Library of Georgia