Huttig News (1907–1955)

On May 4, 1907, just a few years after the town of Huttig (Union County) was created, Charles Arthur Berry published the first issue of the Huttig News. Fred Myers Johnson took over in 1921 and continued as editor and publisher until the paper ceased publication in 1955.

Before starting the Huttig paper, Berry had begun a newspaper in Felsenthal (Union County), the Felsenthal Press, and issued it from 1904 to 1905. Felsenthal was founded in 1904 and is four miles to the northeast of Huttig. Though the two towns were founded in the same year, Huttig was ultimately more successful. A flood in 1906 contributed to the slow growth of Felsenthal, as it halted plans to build a courthouse to serve as center of the judicial district. Felsenthal was even unincorporated in 1911, although it was later reincorporated.

Like many others, Berry moved from Felsenthal to Huttig, where he published his new Democratic paper on Saturdays. The News was the first and only newspaper to come out of Huttig. Berry himself served as president of the Arkansas Press Association and vice president of the Arkansas National Editorial Association. While publishing the News, Berry also worked as postmaster for Huttig. In 1921, Berry left the News, and Fred Myers Johnson began leading the paper. Like Berry, Johnson served as Huttig postmaster. Despite a new owner, the subjects the paper covered did not change, remaining a mix of local, state, and national news. Johnson continued as editor and publisher of the News until its demise in 1955.

Berry seemed to follow the trends of the time, as he continually moved his printing business to the newest thriving town. El Dorado (Union County) attracted him next due to the oil boom, and in 1921, Berry purchased the El Dorado Daily News from J. S. Goodman. Others noticed that Berry sold an oil lease that same year for $12,000, and they marveled that he continued working in the newspaper business after acquiring so much money.

Beginning in 2017, the Arkansas Digital Newspaper Project (ADNP) team at the Arkansas State Archives partnered with the Library of Congress as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), to digitize historic Arkansas newspapers, including the Huttig News.

For additional information:
Allsopp, Frederick W. History of the Arkansas Press for a Hundred Years and More. Little Rock: Parke-Harper Publishing Co., 1922.

Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890.

“Huttig News.” Chronicling America, Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051318/ (accessed May 8, 2024).

Staff of the Arkansas Digital Newspaper Project
Arkansas State Archives

A version of this entry was initially published on both the website of the Arkansas State Archives and the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America project and is used here with permission.