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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Carlisle Independent (Carlisle, Ark.) 1905-Current

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About The Carlisle Independent (Carlisle, Ark.) 1905-Current

Carlisle, in Lonoke County, is slightly east of Little Rock. In the 1870s, fertile soil and plentiful water attracted the first European settlers. A small residential community, it was incorporated in 1878. Carlisle was the first place rice was grown on the Grand Prairie, and rice continues to be a cornerstone of the Carlisle economy. In addition to farming, dairy production was another early industry, with several milk and creamery factories in operation. The Memphis and Little Rock Railroad (later the Rock Island Railroad), ran down Main Street to stop at passenger and freight depots and to ship out the farming and dairy products to other parts of the country.

The Carlisle Independent, the first and only newspaper based in Carlisle, began in 1905 under Thomas P. Young. Young worked as publisher and editor, issuing the paper once a week on Thursdays. For the first few years the Independent ran as a non-political paper, printing news about Carlisle and the surrounding communities in Fulton and Sharp Counties. In 1907, Ernest Ellis took over the Independent, changing it to a Democratic paper.

Jewel Lester Matthews, Sr. took over in 1914 and ran the Independent for two years before turning it over to Clifford R. Griffin. Griffin also ran the paper for two years and then sold it to Edward M. Williams in 1918. Williams stayed with the Independent for several years, using his extensive newspaper experience to promote the welfare of Carlisle.

Williams’s father, M. R. Williams, was also a newspaper publisher. He ran the Salisbury Press-Spectator (1881-current) in Missouri, where Edward and his brothers C. C. Williams and Thomas Williams learned the newspaper business. After learning the trade, Edward moved to Arkansas City, Arkansas and published the New Enterprise (18??-19??) with John W. Davis. Edward’s next paper was in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) at Afton, where he founded the Afton Advance (1896-1???) with C. C. Williams. Edward moved back to Missouri and founded another newspaper before returning to Arkansas. Edward first lived in Stuttgart, where he published the Free Press (1889-192?) with his other brother Thomas Williams. Edward worked on that paper for several years before moving to Carlisle and buying the Independent. Circulation of the Independent increased under Edward, who was a progressive man.

In 1963, Cone Magie and Betty Magie purchased the Independent. The Magie family owned several newspapers in the area, operating under Magie Enterprises, Inc. In 2006 they sold their company, including the Carlisle Independent, to the Stephens Media Group.

In 2017, the Carlisle Independent merged with the Cabot Star-Herald (1956-current) and the Lonoke Democrat (1914-current) to become the Lonoke County Democrat. In 2018 the Lonoke County Democrat ceased publication.

Provided By: Arkansas State Archives

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Carlisle Independent (Carlisle, Ark.) 1905-Current

Dates of Publication

  • 1905-current

Created / Published

  • Carlisle, Ark. : Broadwell Bros.

Headings

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in 1905.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 1, no. 39 (Mar. 1, 1906).

Medium

  • v.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn92050006

OCLC Number

  • 25119982

ISSN Number

  • 2831-2511

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.

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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:

The Carlisle Independent Carlisle, Ark. -Current. (Carlisle, AR), Jan. 1 1905. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn92050006/.

APA citation style:

(1905, January 1) The Carlisle Independent Carlisle, Ark. -Current. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn92050006/.

MLA citation style:

The Carlisle Independent Carlisle, Ark. -Current. (Carlisle, AR) 1 Jan. 1905. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn92050006/.