January 05, 2009

Welcome to our Site

Since 1885, The Rogersville Review has been the leading source of information for the area where the state's first newspaper was printed.

The Rogersville Review was founded on a summer day in 1885 by Will T. Robertson. At first, Robertson called his new publication the Holston Review, but soon changed the name to the Rogersville Review and the paper has been continuously published under that banner ever since.

Robertson knew he followed a long and illustrious line of Rogersville publishers and was determined to make his mark.

His true distinction, perhaps, is that in the midst of all the newspapers that have been published in Rogersville, The Review alone has endured.

While not the state's first newspaper, The Review does own the distinction of being the first hot metal newspaper in Tennessee and was also the last such letter press weekly paper when the conversion to cold type was made in July 1981.

George Roulstone and Robert Ferguson were the the first newspaper publishers in Rogersville and in the State of Tennessee.

Roulstone and Ferguson were commissioned by Territorial Governor William Blount to bring the first printing press to the new territory. The two men brought a printing press over the mountains from North Carolina and established the Knoxville Gazette in a log cabin on the Hawkins Courthouse Town Square.

The first issue of the state's first paper came off the presses November 5, 1791 and was called the Knoxville Gazette. A year later, October 1792, the publication was moved to Knoxville the home of Blount's newly established capital.

Since that time numerous newspapers and special publications have emanated from Rogersville. After the Gazette was moved, there was no newspaper in the area for more than 20 years. Then, in 1813 John B. Hood began publishing The East Tennessee Gazette. Other papers shortly followed, including the Western Pilot, circa 1815, and the Rogersville Gazette from the same era.

Speciality publications emerged during these early days including the Railroad Advocate, the Calvinistic Magazine and the Holston Watchman.

Numerous other newspapers have been published in Rogersville over the years, most surviving only a short time and having modest circulation. Among them were The Independent, Rogersville Spectator, The Weekly Reporter, The Rogersville Gazette, Rogersville Press and Times, Holston Journal, Hawkins County Republican, Hawkins County Telephone, and The Rogersville Herald which was published from 1886 to 1932.

The Rogersville Herald competed with The Rogersville Review during that 46-year period and survived longer than any other local newspaper, save The Review.

During the 1970s another paper came on the scene and offered competition for The Review. The Rogersville-Hawkins County Free Press was published until 1982 when the paper's subscription list was bought by the Review publishers.

Throughout its history The Rogersville Review has undergone numerous changes and countless challenges. Each publisher brought something different to the publication and placed his/her own mark on its pages and in its history.

The most distinguished and perhaps most remembered of all those publishers was Eleanor L. Sheets.

In 1932 Major George L. Berry, who owned the newspaper, hired Eleanor and her husband J. Fred Sheets, along with Spurgeon Akers to run the paper. In 1947 the Sheets purchased the paper from Berry.

In 1958 Fred Sheets died, leaving his widow to run the paper. And run it she did. Eleanor Sheets was a mainstay in Tennessee journalism for six decades. She was a part of The Review for 53 years. She continued to publish the paper until the time of her death, July 18, 1985.

Her heirs, Lace Hoyt Stevens and W. Andes Hoyt then began publishing the weekly.

In the spring of 1988 The Rogersville Review was sold to the Jones Newspaper Group, headed by Gregg Jones of Greeneville. One month later Doug Morris was named editor and publisher.

Morris published the paper until 1990. In October of that same year, Ellen Addison was made publisher and continued in that role until 1997 when she assumed the helm at the Tri-Cities Business Journal. During her tenure at The Review, Addison turned the weekly into a twice weekly newspaper publishing the traditional midweek edition and the new weekend edition.

In April of 1997 Kevin L. Burcham moved to Rogersville and took the reins of the historic newspaper as editor and publisher.

The paper is now published on the World Wide Web. While the paper went on-line in 1997, in January of '98 Burcham unveiled a new expanded and updated site, Hawkins County On-line.

The site, located at hawkins.xtn.net, features general news information, links to weather, industrial and tourism information, a classified section and obituaries and is part of a network of similar sites in the Tri-Cities, Greeneville, Morristown, Newport, Lenoir City, Sweetwater, Athens and other communities throughout Northeast Tennessee.

In 1999 The Review moved to a state-of-the-art facility located at 316 East Main Street in Historic Downtown Rogersville. While the staff is equipped with computers, scanners, laser printers, digital cameras and modern newspaper equipment, the mission remains the same as it was when the paper first began on that summer day in 1885: to be the leading source of information for Hawkins County and a true community partner.

Publisher Bill Parsons took the helm in January, 2001 bringing with him what has become The Rogersville Review's premier special edition, the annual "A Place Called Home" section which has received state and national awards, along with accolades throughout the community. The section has been recognized by the Tennessee Press Association as the best special edition in the state during the past five years for both editorial and advertising content. "A Place Called Home" was recognized by the National Press Association as third best special section in the United States in 2002 and the second best in 2003.

Also in 2002, The Review received its highest honor in its 120-plus year-history, receiving the Tennessee Press Association's General Excellence Award for community newspapers.

Ellen Myatt returned to the publisher's office in June 2006.