Muncie, Indiana and the Press
Last year, Reporters Without Borders ranked the United States 45th on their annual Press Freedom Index. RWB advocates for “the defense of media freedom” as a “basic human right to be informed and to inform others.” Their annual list assesses press freedom in 180 nations.
While American reporters don’t have it as bad as their counterparts in North Korea, RWB did find in 2019 that the U.S. “has become a less safe place for journalists, and the threats they face are becoming standard.”
The growing assault on our nation’s press is symptomatic of a larger problem, the American embrace of anti-intellectualism. Our nation has always had a measure of halfwit culture, but as my mother recently observed, it’s as if “we’re rolling back the Enlightenment” in everything. This plays out as much locally as nationally. If you don’t believe me, just read the Facebook comments on any popular Star Press article.
But this wasn’t always the case. Delaware County residents launched and embraced newspapers for 192 years. The earliest was David Gharkey’s Muncietonian, which started and ended in 1837. In 1841 John Garver published the Telegraph, which briefly became the Village Herald before closing in late 1842. The Yeoman ran 10 issues in 1843 and the Delaware County Democrat ran from 1843–1845.
In 1848 the Indiana Signal was launched. Two years later, it was sold and renamed Muncietonian (unconnected to the first); it closed in 1850. Other early papers included the Whig Banner (1851–1852), the Messenger (1853–1858), and the Delaware Free Press (1860–1866).
Other short lived 19th century papers included the Journal (1847), a second Telegraph (1870–1873), Guardian of Liberty (1867), the Democrat (1870), Indiana Granger (1873), Mule (1875), Weekly Advertiser (1880–1887), Saturday Pink (1885–1896), Indiana Endeavorer (1894–1912), Tribune (1891), and the Indiana Bimetallist (1897).
The Delaware County Times began in 1860, becoming the Daily Times in 1877. Around 1900 the paper retitled as the Evening Times.
A second Democrat began publication in 1874, before becoming the Courier-Democrat in 1875. In 1881 the Courier-Democrat became the Observer, but later reverted back to the Democrat in 1883. In 1885 the Democrat merged with the Herald (which also launched in ’85) to become the Democrat-Herald. In 1889 the paper became just the Herald. In 1905 the Herald and the Evening Times merged to become the Muncie Evening Press.
The Republican launched in 1872, becoming the Liberal by year’s end. In 1873 the Liberal became the News, which later became the Morning News in 1895. After the Morning News went bankrupt in 1901, George McCulloch purchased the paper and merged it with the Muncie Morning Star, which he had launched in 1899.
In 1902 a second Observer was launched, which was eventually sold to George Dale in 1915. Dale renamed the paper to the Post (an anti-Klan paper), which later became the Post-Democrat (ending in 1953).
In the 1920s, students at Eastern Division (Ball State) launched the Easterner, which eventually became the Ball State Daily News.
The Muncie Evening Press and the Muncie Morning Star merged as a single company in 1946, publishing both papers. In 1996 they merged and became the Star Press.
Other 20th century papers included the National Republican (1912–1918), a second Republican (1912), a fourth Democrat (1923–1927), X-Ray (1944–1953), and Bea Foster’s Muncie Times (1991–2011).
And that’s just Muncie’s papers. Albany residents launched the Journal in 1887 and the Sun in 1896. The papers merged in 1897, operating as the Journal until around 1900. Albany had two other papers, the Advocate (1900–1902) and the Chronicle (1903–1972).
Yorktown had the Herald (1909–1912) and the Adventure, which launched in 1958. The Adventure became the Tri-City Journal in 1964. In 1972 the Journal merged with Albany’s Chronicle to become the News, which closed in 1980.
Daleville had the Echophone (1897–1903), the Enterprise (1893–1896), the Review (1903–1913), and the Herald (1913).
Eaton had the Gas Light (1888), which became the Enterprise in 1915. In 1924 the Enterprise was renamed the Community Spectator, which operated until 1931. The Clipper published a few issues in 1908 and the Herald existed from 1938–1953.
Gaston had the Gazette (1897), which became the News in 1921. In 1925, the News became the Eastern Indiana Rural News and operated until 1966.
Finally, the Library of Congress has a record for a Cammack Gazette, published briefly in the 1890s.
Most of these papers are lost, which is unfortunate as their reporting would be historically insightful. Every local historian I know relies on the extant newspapers records for research, for there is no other consistent account of daily life. If you want to preserve local history, subscribe to the Star Press.
