Jackson County Sentinel Archive

The Jackson County Sentinel of Gainesboro, Tennessee,was first known as the Gainesboro Sentinel. Established in 1898, the Democratic weekly had several publishers and editors: W.S. McClain, Earl Woodson Tardy and Fred L. Tardy, and G.C. Brown. The Sentinel appeared each Thursday serving readers in the upper Cumberland region of Tennessee, an area known for its agriculture, lumbering businesses, and tobacco trade.

Beginning in 1914, the paper was renamed the Jackson County Sentinel. On November 3, 1916, the front page announced that the Sentinel was in "a state of desuetude," appearing irregularly (printing problems were evidenced by uneven typesetting, such as gaps and even type set upside-down). The paper did not disclose the reason for its difficulties, but announced that it would forthwith be under the editorial leadership of E.W. Tardy, with George B. Gailbraeth as business manager. An "up-to-date cylinder newspaper press, run by an engine, on which 3,000 papers can be printed an hour" was installed, which allowed the newly hired typesetter to print "a neat paper and get it out on time." With "new life" and "new energy," the Jackson County Sentinel began publishing regularly on Fridays.

The improved Sentinel included more agricultural reporting, including a "Farm News" column on the front page, prepared especially by the county agent for local farmers. Content featured community news such as birth and death announcements and notices from local churches, clubs, and organizations, as well as articles on corn and soybeans and editorials debating the value of entering the dairy business. The Sentinel operated as did many other small papers in rural Tennessee and across the nation, depending on subscription sales and advertising dollars to survive. To encourage readers to renew their subscriptions, Tardy published in January 1916 a poetic appreciation for the paper's most loyal reader: "the old, old subscriber, the dear old subscriber, the faithful old friend who renews every year." This same poem (not written by Tardy himself) appeared in many newspapers across the nation.

On June 7, 1917, the Sentinel's front page bore a headline announcing, "We are at WAR, and it's a VERY SERIOUS THING." The paper covered the events of the First World War for its duration but maintained a focus on local and agricultural matters. Although Tardy had lowered the annual subscription price to 50 cents by 1919, the Sentinel had modest a circulation of some 700 persons, in a county with the population of more than 15,000.

Despite these early difficulties, the Jackson County Sentinel survived. The paper has remained in continuous operation since its founding and today is published online.