Top of page

Notice
Special holiday hours in effect, December 2025 through January 2026. More information.
Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Cordele Dispatch (Cordele, Georgia) 19??-1920

View All Front Pages

About The Cordele Dispatch (Cordele, Georgia) 19??-1920

Judge J. B. Smith and Alvin Roberts published the first issue of the Cordele Sunday Dispatch in April 1908 as a 16-page, Democratic Party aligned, weekly paper. The Sunday publishing cycle avoided direct competition with Cordele’s leading weekly, the Cordele Rambler, which served as the county’s paper of record at the time. Several railroad lines intersected in Cordele, and its role in the wiregrass region’s rail commerce earned the municipality the moniker “Hub City.” The Dispatch communicated frequently with papers of record in surrounding towns and largely mirrored the political views of those publications. The Dispatch pushed for increased railroad regulation and advocated for agricultural diversification. Along with economic and social reforms, the paper’s owners also printed editorials supporting the disenfranchisement of black voters, falling in line with Democratic policies of the era.

In September 1908, Robert Young Beckham and J. R. Alford, both staff members for newspapers in Dublin, Georgia, purchased the Cordele Sunday Dispatch. The two owners moved the paper’s weekly publishing cycle to Saturday and subsequently dropped “Sunday” from its masthead. Alford sold his shares in the publication to J. E. Pound, who became sole owner by April 1909. Pound managed the Dispatch for five years and expanded the paper from weekly to tri-weekly circulation. Due to financial strain, however, the paper returned to weekly publication in 1912.

Ownership again changed in January 1914, when Judge Max E. Land, former solicitor general of the Cordele Judicial Circuit, purchased the publication from Pound, who moved to Florida to pursue other business interests. Land wrote in a dramatic style, featuring capitalized words for emphasis. Although he did not support the Republican Party, Land argued that the virtual one-party rule Democrats had in the South did not always benefit Georgia. Under Land’s stewardship, the Dispatch‘s subscription rates surpassed the Rambler‘s, and the paper acquired legal advertising rights for Crisp County.

On March 8, 1916, Land announced the formation of the Dispatch Publishing Company with Charles E. Brown as its editor in chief and majority shareholder. Land remained connected to the paper as a shareholder, but moved on to pursue political aspirations, eventually becoming mayor of Cordele. Under Brown’s management, the paper transitioned to daily circulation, and, after absorbing the Cordele Daily Sentinel in June 1920, its title became the Cordele Dispatch and Daily Sentinel. Brown reverted the title to Cordele Dispatch in April 1926, which remains the paper’s title today.

In 1930, Crisp County built the first hydroelectric dam in the United States to be owned, constructed, and operated by a county. Brown was among the earliest residents in Crisp County to push for a publicly owned electric plant on the Flint River, and he used the pages of the Dispatch to advance this cause. Brown owned and edited the Dispatch until his death on February 28, 1930, just six months before the hydroelectric dam began operations. Brown’s wife, Florence E. Brown, managed the paper until 1938, when she sold the publication to John W. Greer, Jr. Today, the Cordele Dispatch is owned by Boone Newspapers, Inc. and continues to serve as Crisp County’s legal organ.

Research provided by the University of Arizona Libraries.

Provided By: Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records; Phoenix, AZ

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Cordele Dispatch (Cordele, Georgia) 19??-1920

Dates of Publication

  • 19??-1920

Created / Published

  • Cordele Georgia. : Max E. Land
  • Cordele, Georgia : Dispatch Pub. Co.

Headings

  • -  Cordele (Ga.)--Newspapers
  • -  Crisp County (Ga.)--Newspapers
  • -  Georgia--Cordele
  • -  Georgia--Crisp County
  • -  United States--Georgia--Crisp--Cordele

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Daily (except Sat.), Nov. 15, 1917-1920
  • -  Ceased in May or June 1920.
  • -  "Official organ of the city of Cordele and Crisp County."--volume VII, no. 40 (January 5, 1916), page [4].
  • -  "Official organ of Crisp County."--vol. VIII, no. 5 (May 3, 1916).
  • -  Has separately titled section, : High school news.
  • -  Stated frequency and actual frequency may differ.
  • -  May be some irregularities in enumeration and chronology.
  • -  May contain special issue called: D.A.R. Edition. This seems more likely to have been a one-time special issue than a true separate edition.
  • -  Also on microfilm: Athens, Ga. : University of Georgia Libraries, and: Wooster, Ohio : Micro Photo Division, Bell and Howell.
  • -  Semiweekly edition carrying its own enumeration may have been included as part of this title during some periods when title was published daily from Nov. 15, 1917- . Despite presence of frequency edition statements, cannot be determined whether the semiweekly edition constituted an entirely separate publication. There may have been days when the semiweekly edition was the only paper printed for the day and intended to function also as the daily issue. Some issues with semiweekly edition statement give frequency as daily in publisher's block.
  • -  Appears to have merged with: Cordele daily sentinel to form: Cordele dispatch and daily sentinel.
  • -  Description based on volume VII, no. 40 (January 5, 1916) (microfilm surrogate).
  • -  Latest issue consulted: Vol. 3, no. 165 (May 26, 1920) (microfilm surrogate).
  • -  Cordele daily sentinel (DLC) 2022239699 (OCoLC)1317705063
  • -  Cordele dispatch and daily sentinel (DLC) 2022239691 (OCoLC)1316790520

Medium

  • volumes

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn89053138

OCLC Number

  • 19539192

ISSN Number

  • 2995-9446

Succeeding Titles

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.

For more information on Library of Congress policies and disclaimers regarding rights and reproductions, see https://aj.sunback.homes/homepage/legal.html

Cite This Item

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

Chicago citation style:

The Cordele Dispatch Cordele, Georgia 19??. (Cordele, GA), 19??. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn89053138/.

APA citation style:

(19??) The Cordele Dispatch Cordele, Georgia 19??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn89053138/.

MLA citation style:

The Cordele Dispatch Cordele, Georgia 19??. (Cordele, GA) 19??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn89053138/.