Hutchinson Gazette Archive

New managers Horace S. Foster and Lee A. Hutton began the Hutchinson Gazette, of Reno County, Kansas, on January 17, 1895, after changing its name from the Alliance Gazette, a Populist organ. The Hutchinson Gazette also promoted the Populist platform and gained wide circulation coinciding with the rise of the Populist Party. The Gazette ran the banner "The Official Organ of the People's Party and Farmers' Alliance of Reno County." Much of the included content related to county, regional, and national news; monopolies, public sales and legal notices; articles relating to currency reform (Bimetallism and Free Silver); and illustrative political cartoons. The Gazette was published weekly on Thursdays, and circulation numbers reached as high as 1500 in 1901 and 1902, with the population of 9,379 in Hutchinson.

Albert M. Nettleton and his brother Earl G. Nettleton came to Stafford, Kansas, in 1892 where they established the Populist themed People's Paper. In February of 1896 they traded the People's Paper for Lee A. Hutton's Hutchinson Gazette. Both titles shared the same political leanings; therefore the editorial switch did not change the newspaper's content. In his salutatory statement with the Hutchison Gazette on February 27, 1896, Earl G. Nettleton stated that "the Gazette will continue to expound the teachings of populism, earnestly believing that in their fulfillment, only, is the hope of continued strength in the nation, and the fullest measure of justice toward all the various elements that in combination form our government." After the Nettleton brothers took charge of the publication, they made many improvements to the equipment in the plant, debuting the first typesetting machine in Hutchison; the Gazette had one of the most modern and up-to-date printing plants in central Kansas.

In 1902, the Hutchinson Gazette changed its name to the Semi-weekly Gazette, still under the Nettleton bothers. In their first issue, the editors explained that farmers were "keeping [a] closer tab on the doings of the world, and want the news before some of it gets to be a week old," and observed that other publishers have converted to semi-weeklies "with the best results." When Earl G. Nettleton died in 1907, the Gazette was taken over by Harry A. Lill who remained as editor and publisher until the publication was eventually discontinued in 1910.