Custer County Chief

Last updated
Custer County Chief
Type Weekly newspaper
Format Broadsheet
Owner(s)Horizon Publications
PublisherPurcell Bros.
EditorMona Weatherly
General managerDonnis Hueftle-Bullock
Founded1892
LanguageEnglish
Headquarters305 South 10th Ave, Broken Bow, Custer County, NE 68822
Circulation 1,703 [1]
OCLC number 13412891
Website custercountychief.com

The Custer County Chief is an American weekly newspaper serving the town of Broken Bow, Nebraska and surrounding Custer County. [2] It is owned by Horizon Publications. [3] As of 2024, the paper had a print circulation of 1,300 and a staff of two full-timers and two part-timers. [4]

History

Founded on April 22, 1892, the paper was the second paper founded by Emerson R. Purcell. [5] Purcell, an Illinoisan who had moved to Crete with his family in 1884, had initially started a paper with his brother in Merna, [5] on borrowed capital of 120 dollars. [6] That paper was a success, and after selling it to a group of local politicians he moved on with his brother to found a new paper in the town of Broken Bow. [5] It aligned itself with the Populist cause that was popular in the state at the time, and benefited from political patronage while that cause was well supported. [7] As Populist fervor wound down it took a neutral position. [7]

On the death of Purcell in 1943, son-in-law Parke Keays took over briefly before passing it on to Emerson's son Harry Purcell, who ran it until 1984. [3] The paper was sold in turn to Smith Brothers Corporation and CNHI before ending up with Chicago's Horizon Publications, the current owner. [3]

Over the first seventy-five years of its history, the paper absorbed over a dozen smaller papers, [5] including the Custer County Republican (1921), [8] Merna Messenger (1944), [9] Sandhill News (1956), [10] and Seven Valleys Farmer (1967). [11]

In the mid-20th century, the paper was notable for its extensive network of correspondents. [6] At the time of Emerson Purcell's death, they numbered over 110, each sending updates to the newspaper on the 15 towns it covered. [6] In the mid-1950s it maintained its position as largest weekly in the state, [12] a position it had held at least intermittently since the 1910s. [8]

In 2004, the paper was the subject of some attention when the Associated Press reported on its "backward" printed edition, issued in honor of International Left-Handers Day. [13]

In March 2018 the paper discontinued printing in Broken Bow, moving its printing operation to nearby Kearney, Nebraska. Its offices remain in Broken Bow, at the "fireproof" building built by Emerson Purcell in 1929. [3] [6]

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References

  1. ↑ "Nebraska Newspaper Locator Map | Nebraska Press Association". 2012-11-21. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  2. ↑ "Custer County Chief". Mondo Times. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Barnett, Emily (5 March 2018). "Chief Printing Press Slows to a Halt in Custer County, Printing Moving to Kearney". Sand Hills Express.
  4. ↑ Hammel, Paul (2024-12-23). "Changes at rural Nebraska newspaper raise subscribers — and hope for the future • Nebraska Examiner". Nebraska Examiner. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "E. R. Purcell, Custer County Publisher, dies". Lincoln Journal Star. 7 September 1943. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Emerson Purcell's Custer County Chief Is 50 Years Old; One of Best Weeklies". The Lincoln Star. 22 April 1942. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  7. 1 2 Gaston, William Levi (1919). History of Custer County, Nebraska: A Narrative of the Past, with Special Emphasis Upon the Pioneer Period of the Country's History, Its Social, Commercial, Educational, Religious and Civic Development from the Early Days to the Present Time. Western Publishing and Engraving Company.
  8. 1 2 "More or Less Personal". The Nebraska State Journal. 26 January 1921. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  9. ↑ "About The Custer County chief". Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  10. ↑ "Mullen Paper Sold". Lincoln Journal Star. 6 April 1956. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  11. ↑ "Newspaper Family in Nebraska Numbers 236, Up 1 This Year". The Plattsmouth Journal. 28 December 1967. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  12. ↑ "Nebraska Newspapers Report Circulation Up About 7,000". The Lincoln Star. 9 January 1955. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  13. ↑ "Newspaper printed backward". The Daily News-Journal. 17 August 2004. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
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