Since the early days of Barberton, residents have relied on local newspapers to keep up with community news. Shortly after Barberton’s founding in 1891, the town’s first weekly paper, the Banner and Bulletin, appeared at Saturday newsstands. Though short-lived, lasting just a year, it helped spread the nickname “Magic City.”
In 1892, local teacher John R. Strongly Democratic in tone, the paper re
flected Davis’s politics. He was later elected mayor, overseeing Barberton’s incorporation and the arrival of streetcars. The News came to an end in 1929 after Davis’s death. To balance political voices, attorney Edward Huene launched the Republican-leaning Barberton Leader in 1894. Under the later ownership of Eugene Rowe, a former Akron Beacon Journal editor, the Leader served the city until 1922. Other short-run papers followed, including the Barberton Telegram, Barberton Socialist, Barberton Times, and the Barberton Post, which published through 1960. The most enduring of Barberton’s newspapers was the Barberton Herald, founded in 1921 in Kenmore and moved to Barberton in 1923. It absorbed both the News and the Leader, becoming the city’s dominant local paper. Over nearly a century, the Herald chronicled Barberton life, from neighborhood events to civic debates. By the 2000s, it was selling more than 8,000 copies a week and had expanded to online subscribers. But after nearly 100 years, the Barberton Herald closed its doors on December 31, 2022. Its legacy now lives on in a volunteer-run community page known as Herald Social, listed publicly as Herald Nation, which carries forward the tradition of local storytelling in Barberton.
💜 We know some posts can feel heavy. If our updates ever cause you stress, please feel free to unfollow our page. Our goal is to keep the community informed with the news you deserve. For those interested in history, the Barberton Public Library maintains thousands of local newspapers on microfilm, including issues of the News, Leader, Post, and Herald.
