There were two main newspapers in Atlanta in the days leading up to and during the Civil War.
The Atlanta Southern Confederacy was a democratic newspaper dating back to 1859. The paper was edited by Dr. James P. Hambleton who has been described by historians as a “fireeater”. When Hambleton joined the Confederacy in 1861 he sold the paper to C.R. Hanlieter and George W. Adair. Henlieter and Adair then merged the paper with Gate City Guardian. Keeping the name Atlanta Southern Confederacy, the paper attempted to give accurate news from the front. Unfortunately, the paper couldn’t make it in Atlanta’s tough economy during the war and folded in 1864.
A large archive of articles from the Atlanta Southern Confederacy can be accessed here.
Another paper, the Daily Intelligencer, dates back even earlier….to 1849. The picture with this article is the offices of the paper as they appeared during the war.
The war caused a problem for the publishers because it interrupted the flow of paper from their supplier….the paper mill at Sope Creek. In order to keep publishing the paper moved to Macon, Georgia under the leadership of Jared Whitaker. Once the war was over the paper moved back to Atlanta making it the only paper to survive the war.
During the war John H. Steele was the editor until 1871. Captain Evan Howell took over as city editor in 1868.
The paper finally folded in 1871 because it couldn’t compete with the new Atlanta Constitution. Everything went on the auction block with the Atlanta Constitution taking over the Intelligencer’s mechanical equipment.
The archives of both historic papers can be researched here.
Comments