Times have indeed changed since the days when Fayetteville and Lincoln County’s hometown newspaper was printed entirely by hand and distributed by horseback. Today The Elk Valley Times is located at the top of North Elk Avenue, just a few blocks from where the county’s first newspaper office stood on the city square. The Times represents the consolidation of The Fayetteville Observer, established
in 1850, and the Lincoln County News, first published in 1839. The Times itself was founded March 31, 1966, by H&S Publishing Co., owned by Harry Hill Sr. Within two weeks after putting out its first newspaper, The Times acquired The Observer, which had served Fayetteville without interruption for 116 years under the leadership of three generations of Wallaces. The original frame building, a narrow, two-story structure made of poplar, had been built in 1815 on the east side of the square. At that time, the Bank of Fayetteville occupied the building. In 1850, the bank moved, and the building was relocated to East College Street where it became home to the Observer. There, it stood next door to the new post office on property that is now occupied by US Bank. In those days, the newspaper was printed by hand and distributed by horseback. Approximately 450 papers were printed each week, but by 1881, circulation had grown incredibly, and N.O. Wallace, its founder, doubled the size of his building to take care of the increase. It’s interesting to note that around this time, Lincoln County’s population had grown to 28,000 people. That’s about the same number of people we had living here in 1990, 100 years later. The next big move for The Elk Valley Times came in 1975, when Hill and Simon’s publishing company was purchased by Lakeway Publishers Inc. Jack Fishman out of Morristown, where he publishes The Citizen Tribune. A little more than a year later, in November 1976, Lakeway acquired the Lincoln County News, owned by Beverly and Sarah Young. The Elk Valley Times Observer would become The Elk Valley Times Observer and News. The News was founded in 1839, 11 years before the Fayetteville Observer, but it went through several name changes and owners until it became The Lincoln County News again in 1903. The paper was published at various times as the Fayetteville Express, the Gazette and the Lincoln County Sun. Among the owners of the paper were Ebenezer Hill and later his son, Ebenezer Hill Jr., Allan Pamplin, Eli Haggard, Henry Holman Jr., Tom Price, Robert Buchanan and his sister, Mary White Hobbs, who was Ms. Sarah Young’s aunt. During the 1800s, the paper was published twice weekly and, at one time, it was a daily newspaper. The News had been located in the same building on the south side of the Fayetteville square since the turn of the century. With the purchase, the consolidated newspaper’s office was located at the top of the hill on North Elk Avenue, where it is now. The Elk Valley Times and Observer had moved there in 1968. After having been in the newspapering business for 40 years, Mr. Bev retired, though he remained very active in the community. But Ms. Sarah continued to oversee society news at The Elk Valley Times until 1993 when she retired at the age of 72. She had worked at the paper since she was 12 years old. Today, The Elk Valley Times remains a part of the Lakeway chain, a group of newspapers that also includes The Moore County News in Lynchburg, The Tullahoma News, The Manchester Times, The Herald Chronicle in Wi******er, and The Grundy County Herald in Tracy City.
