CULLMAN – The Cullman Tribune is the oldest continuously published weekly newspaper in Alabama. It is also Cullman County’s oldest business. Its pages have covered both the good and the bad news around this area since January 1, 1874 – three years before Cullman County was even created! Yes, the old newspaper publication could tell some pretty interesting tales. Thankfully the Tribune is going to continue to provide Cullman’s top news well into the future as the paper’s ownership changed hands on April 1, 2016.
The Alabama Tribune, as it was originally called, was founded in 1874 by early Cullman businessmen George H. Parker and Gottfried A. Prinz. Both men were instrumental in Cullman’s earliest years. Prinz was Cullman’s mayor from 1876-1877, he was Cullman’s first postmaster and opened Cullman’s first store in 1873. Parker also served as mayor of Cullman, from 1900-1903. Additionally, Parker donated land and money to help start Cullman High School back in 1909.
In 1875, the Southern Immigrant newspaper was founded by Charles A. Beckert, H.L. Watlington and John A. Johnson. On November 1, 1880, the Alabama Tribune and the Southern Immigrant merged together under the management of Johnson, who continued the publication as the Alabama Tribune. He held editorial control of the paper until August 1892 when he claimed he had “been in the newspaper business for 50 years and wanted a rest.”
Johnson sold the paper to T.J. Simpson and George Hewlett, who sold the paper a couple years later to M.L. Robertson in April 1895. In December of that same year, Robertson changed the newspaper’s name from The Alabama Tribune to The Cullman Tribune. (Interesting note: In September 1897, Robertson married Miss Mary Alice Parker who was the daughter of George H. Parker, original co-owner of the Tribune!)
“Three families have dominated the history of Alabama’s longest continually published weekly newspaper,” said Delton Blalock, former publisher and editor of The Cullman Tribune. “The Norwood family published the Tribune for two decades early last century. The Arnold family published the Tribune for over 30 years in the middle of last century. Blalock Publishing, L.L.C. (has) now (had) the longest tenure as publisher of the Cullman Tribune, which is also Cullman’s oldest business.
“The new owners, Noah Galilee and Dustin Isom currently publish the CullmanSense, which is about five years old,” Blalock continued. “They plan to combine the two publications under the banner, Cullman Tribune. All current subscribers will continue to be served with expanded coverage.”
The Cullman Tribune has seen quite a few publishers and editors of the over the years.
- G.H. Parker, Co-Founder
- G.A. Prinz, Co-Founder
- R. Damus
- J. Damus
- J.A. Johnson (November 1880 – 1892)
- Walter King
- M.L. Robertson
- George A. Hewlett
- Joe W. Hewlett
- Will G. Brown
- Mrs. H. Julia Gillespie (1908)
- J.C. Norwood
- Mrs. J.C. Norwood
- Maurice Norwood
- Henry Frank Arnold and Edna Earl Arnold (1937 – 1968)
- Marc and Charlotte Miller (1968 – 1976)
- Grady Griffin
- Terry Smith and Raymond Clark
- Sue and Gary Edwards
- Dr. Ben Johnson
- Delton and Barbara Blalock
- Noah Galilee and Dustin Isom
Robin Sterling, author of “People and Things from the Cullman Alabama Tribune, 1898 – 1913,” has done extensive work transcribing early editions of the paper. He describes the early Tribune newspaper as follows:
For the first 25 years or so of its existence, except for special occasions, the Tribune contained only four pages. The first page consisted of mostly national and state news, while page two contained editorial paragraphs where often the political views of the editor were set to print. During election cycles, most of page two was made up of news having to do with state and local politics. Page two was also where most of the items of an official nature were published, such as Sheriff’s Sales, Land Settlements, and other items related to the Probate Judge’s office. Page three was reserved for local items and it was usually filled with little lines of people coming and going and their activities of late. Often, the editor printed long lists of people who had merely dropped by the office to visit sometime during the week. The editor always encouraged correspondents from outlying communities to send in news of their area and these were usually published on page two and three. On page three was usually located the items making up the bulk of this volume; that is, the announcements of births, deaths, marriages, and short news items. Page four usually contained items of general interests, serial novelettes and large ads. Scattered small ads for individuals offering professional services of one sort or another were scattered throughout the paper.
The Cullman Tribune has changed both its looks and its content over the years. Cullman County’s expansion and growth have made for plenty of newsworthy stories since 1874. Each publisher and editor has changed the newspaper, just a little, to reflect his or her own personal style of writing and reporting. The publication Parker and Prinz started over 142 years ago has changed hands yet again, effective April 1, 2016. The Cullman Tribune is here to stay, here to report and here to watch Cullman history continue to unfold from within its very pages.
