The McCreary County Record was born in October of 1919. The first press run of the paper was November 18, 1919. Started by Bell Press of Oneida, TN, the plant was installed in the poolroom building owned by Stearns Coal & Lumber Company which, later in 1920, bought the paper. The Record was sold to Cecil T. Williams of Somerset, KY late in 1928. This ownership led to the eventual affiliation of The Record with the Commonwealth-Journal in Somerset.
The Record remains dedicated to delivering local news to McCreary County. The Record is currently owned by NHI of Birmingham, AL.
The Record has never missed a deadline. An office fire in July of 1987 became the lead story when the paper hit the streets six days later.
The Record has been a Tuesday paper for most of the 87 years of its existence.
Several years ago the date changed to Wednesday but was so unpopular with readers it quickly reverted back to a Tuesday publication. In early years The Record did not publish the week between Christmas and New Years Day.
Starting in 1928 the Record began keeping bound volumes. These books have survived two fires and are appreciated by genealogists and historians for their content.
The Record has moved over the years. From Stearns, KY it moved to Whitley City into the Hatfield-Lavender Building on Courthouse Square. The offices remained there until the fire of 1987 when the offices relocated into Ruben Hicks’ building on Courthouse Square. The Record remained there until it outgrew the space in 2005.
The Record is now located on N. Main Street in Whitley City.....more>>