The beginning of the present Bristol Herald Courier came in 1865. That was the year John Slack founded the Bristol News, a publication which continued until after the turn of the century. In 1870, Slack launched the Bristol Courier, a weekly which became Bristol's first daily paper in 1888.

George L. Carter, founder of the Clinchfield Railroad, moved to Bristol in 1903 and founded the Bristol Herald. When Carter left Bristol in1907 the Herald was combined with the Courier and became the Bristol Herald Courier.

On October 16, 1949, T. Eugene Worrell and a number of the city's leading businessmen, launched the Bristol Virginia-Tennessean, first published in direct competition with the Herald Courier and the evening News Bulletin. After many months of intense rivalry, the Herald Courier and Virginia-Tennessean joined in a printing agreement allowing both to carry on competitively in news and editorial fields while enjoying economies afforded by joint operations.

In 1986, after 36 years of home deliveries, the Bristol Virginia-Tennessean succumbed to the trend of dying afternoon newspapers and was combined with the morning editions of the Bristol Herald Courier. The combined morning publication with three editions covered and circulated in nine Southwest Virginia counties and Upper East Tennessee.

January 1, 1998 marked the sale of the Bristol Herald Courier to Media General, Inc., a Richmond Virginia based corporation, headed by chairman, J. Stewart Bryan III, with media holdings throughout the Southeast.

April 24, 2006 - The Bristol Herald Courier launches the first edition of the new Bristol Herald Courier, from their new $22-million production facility. Full color pages now accent the entire paper, with new features throughout.

Today we launch your new newspaper. It is a smaller, more convenient size and is printed at our new $22-million production facility located on Route 394, in Bristol Tennessee. On the Front Page you will notice that we have added this slogan: ''Your Life. Delivered Daily.'' That is the Bristol Herald Courier's mission and we put it in the paper so that you - and every member of our company - will be reminded of it every day.

You will find that our colors are crisper, and spread throughout the newspaper. Our reproduction will be vastly improved on these German-made printing presses - making reading easier on your eyes.

Keep this handy guide to remind yourself of the changes we've made to your newspaper. If you have questions or comments about anything we've done, please send us your comments using the form on this page, or call us at 276-669-2181. We're happy to explain what we've done and why - and want to know what you think. Some of the changes will take some getting used to - we're all creatures of habit. So give them a little time to sink into your daily routine.

We hope we can provide you better service and a better product than we have ever before delivered to your door. There may be a few glitches along the way as we use this new, state-of-the-art press. If so, we apologize in advance and promise to correct those things quickly. Please bear with us. But very quickly we believe you will find these improvements helpful to your reading.

But we are optimistic that your paper will be delivered on time, right where you want, every day without any inconvenience. We are committed to providing you the region's most complete, attractive and compelling newspaper - filled with the news, information and advertising you need to make smart decisions.

New, daily Region section

To accent our local coverage, which reaches from Northeast Tennessee to Southwest Virginia, we've created a daily Region section. In it you will find your business news and Obituaries along with news of the region.

Separate Classified sections every day

Our Classified sections - with more color throughout, will be a standalone section everyday - no more trying to find them at the back of other sections. You can pull them out, read them and find the best deal on cars, real estate and personal items.
New page 2
On Page two you will still find the Lottery, any corrections we need to make to our news report and information on how to contact us. You will find a short list of the day's deaths, while the full obituaries will be moved to the Region section. On Page 2 we are adding some short stories and what we hope you will find to be an interesting, offbeat or quick story.

Improved Weather map

We've added new features and improved graphics to give you more complete weather information so you can plan your business and leisure activities. We list more cities across the country, so you can check on family members. And we've added more rivers so you can plan the best place to fish.

Expanded Editorial Pages
We've included more voices by adding extra space on Monday and Tuesday to allow more columnists and letters from readers. The daily Editorial cartoon will also be in color. And we've added a letter of the day - our pick of which of your letters is the most thought provoking.

Daily Color Comics
Each day your comics will be in full color, not just on Sunday.

What stays the same?

Our commitment to bringing you the most complete newspaper that you can buy.

Our main offices, where our Advertising, Circulation and News departments, will remain at 320 Bob Morrison Blvd., Bristol Virginia. So if you need to reach anyone in those departments - to place an advertisement, tell us about a news story or talk about delivery of your newspaper - you will find us there.

We welcome your comments and feedback. Send us a note, or contact us through these extensions:

Circulation - (276) 645-2530
Classifieds Dept - (276) 645-2525
Main - (276) 669-2181