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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper McDowell Progress (Elkhorn, W. Va.) 1883-????

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About McDowell Progress (Elkhorn, W. Va.) 1883-????

A quintessential small-town paper in the late nineteenth century, the McDowell Progress was the first newspaper established in McDowell County. Publication began in 1886 through a partnership of local county clerk J. Frank Johnson and John R. Greenawalt, a seasoned newspaper editor originally from Virginia. Greenawalt served as the paper’s editor.

Published weekly, the four-page Progress provided readers with a steady stream of local news; regular columns included “General News” and “Local Doings,” as well as various social announcements, railroad schedules, and more. Although the Progress stayed abreast of state legislature affairs, the paper didn’t editorialize much on politics. Indeed, much of the paper’s wider national and international news was copied directly from larger newspapers. Front page serialized novels and amusing anecdotes offered entertainment. A bevy of advertisements, combined with a $1.00 annual subscription, kept the paper afloat financially. In a county with only a few thousand residents, the Progress grew to enjoy a circulation of approximately 500.

The Progress‘ tenure coincided with a time of great change in McDowell County. Local coal fields spurred industrialization and the arrival of railroads. In 1889, the paper moved to Elkhorn, which at the time was the terminus of the Norfolk & Western Railroad. As coal mines opened, the county’s population swelled. In 1890, the paper moved to the newly-established town of Welch, which soon became the county seat. The move to Welch led to a change in ownership, and the McDowell Progress was sold to James R. Beaver. Renamed the McDowell Recorder, the paper continued serving McDowell County through the 1940s.

Provided By: West Virginia University

About this Newspaper

Title

  • McDowell Progress (Elkhorn, W. Va.) 1883-????

Dates of Publication

  • 1883-????

Created / Published

  • Elkhorn, W. Va. : R. Greenawalt

Headings

  • -  Elkhorn (W. Va.)--Newspapers
  • -  McDowell County (W. Va.)--Newspapers
  • -  West Virginia--McDowell County
  • -  United States--West Virginia--McDowell--Elkhorn

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in 1883?
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 8, no. 3 (Jan. 17, 1891).
  • -  Latest issue consulted: Vol. 8, no. 13 (Mar. 28, 1891).

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2016270576

OCLC Number

  • 1090289436

ISSN Number

  • 2832-2282

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

The NEH awardee responsible for producing each digital object is presented in the Chronicling America page display, below the page image – e.g. Image produced by the Library of Congress. For more information on current NDNP awardees, see https://aj.sunback.homes/ndnp/listawardees.html.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

McDowell Progress Elkhorn, W. Va. -????. (Elkhorn, WV), Jan. 1 1883. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/2016270576/.

APA citation style:

(1883, January 1) McDowell Progress Elkhorn, W. Va. -????. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/2016270576/.

MLA citation style:

McDowell Progress Elkhorn, W. Va. -????. (Elkhorn, WV) 1 Jan. 1883. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/2016270576/.