James Lyon, son of Matthew Lyon and an apprentice under Benjamin Franklin
of Philadelphia, started the first newspaper in Lyon County in 1801.
George Crumbaugh, a Methodist minister and a member of the Methodist Conference started the second newspaper in
Lyon County. He was the editor of The Democrat and started The Lyon County Gazette. He also published The Dawson
Rippling and in 1884 began The Saturday Evening Echo.
The Lyon County Herald, one of the present county papers, was started sixty-three years ago in 1901. Some of the
former owners of the Herald were: Mr. John L. Smith and L. E. Dodd, Mr. Clay Cross, Mr. S. M. Martin, Mr. Charles
Sexton, Jr., Mr. J. Boyce Smith, Mr. G. M. Pedley, and the present owner, Mr. W. T. Davis.
Prior to 1901 there had been a paper published in Eddyville called The Tale of Two Cities edited by W. W. Martin
and his partner Calmers Martin formerly operated the Lyon County Drug Store. No files prior to the Martin-Calmers
ownership were available because, according to Mr. G. M. Pedley, prior issues of the papers were lost in the 1937
flood, when the water from the Cumberland River rose to a depth of nine feet in the building occupied by the newspaper.
The Lyon County Herald has had several other names. When Mr. Cross owned the paper it was called Tale of Two Cities.
While Mr. Pedley owned the paper it was called The Lyon County Herald and was subtitled The Tale of Two Cities.
It was his idea that the paper belonged as much to Kuttawa as it did to Eddyville and the people of the county.
Also during the time that Mr. Pedley owned the paper it received several awards from the Kentucky Press Association.
Some were: Best All-Around Newspaper, Best Editorial, Best Front Page, Best News Story, and Best Advertising Displays.
In addition Mr. Pedley was awarded top prize for an editor's column which he called "Pennyrile Postscripts."
This column, together with the editorial page, were his chief concern.
When Mr. Pedley bought The Lyon County Herald, the nation was in the grip of a severe depression. Subscription
price was one dollar a year (1932) with approximately 2,000 names on the mailing list. After publishing notices
for four consecutive weeks that names of those whom the records showed had not paid for their subscriptions during
the last year (prior to August 1, 1932), the publisher stated that these names would be eliminated. Mr. Pedley
always believed that if a newspaper was doing a reasonably good job for the people of any given community its readers
would be willing to pay a fair price to receive it regularly. Soon afterwards the price was increased to $1.50
a year.
Because Mr. Pedley had for years worked on large daily newspapers and had learned the great value of the Associated
Press, and because he was an officer of the Kentucky Press Association, he applied for and was granted the first
franchise as a member of the Associated Press. This was an honor never granted to a weekly newspaper before in
Kentucky.
He was also the first weekly publisher to subscribe for a regular news picture service ... on the ajicient Chinese
proverb that: "One picture is worth a thousand words" . . . Both of these innovations proved to be an
excellent investment, making The Herald much more readable and permitting it to do a vastly improved job for the
people it served.
Most of the advertising originated in Eddyville and Kuttawa, with Kut-tawa places of business buying somewhat more
space than those in Eddyville. The Herald also obtained a considerable volume of advertising from Princeton and
some from Hopkinsville and a small amount from Paducah such as auctions, livestock dispersals, etc. The paper also
received advertising required by law from all agents of governmental units—cities, coun-ites, state, and federal.
In the 1930's commissioners sales brought in considerable revenue.
The present owner, Mr. W. T. Davis, has operated The Lyon County Herald for the last ten years ajid in 1963 received
a certificate from the state known as the Kentucky Business Pioneer Award, because the paper had been published
consecutively for one-half century.
Besides The Lyon County Herald there have been several other newspapers in Lyon County. The Citizen's Review, The
Optic, The Kuttawa News, and The Echo. Also there was The Kuttawan, operated by Edgar Whittimore, and The Lyon
County Times operated by John L. Smith. All of these were located in Kuttawa.
In the last two years Lyon County has gained another newspaper known as The Lakeside Ledger which is owned and
operated by Mr. C. L. Baccus of Eddyville .
Much of the information came from Mr. G. M. Pedley in a letter that he sent us concerning The Lyon County Herald
and a few other newspapers in Lyon County.
HOME
©Genealogy Trails