SENTINEL ECHO 150TH ANNIVERSARY: Sentinel has had 8 homes in its history

Apr. 12—In recognition of The Sentinel Echo's 150th anniversary, this special story outlines the history of its origin and the locations where the office has been located over the years.

While the Dyche family is credited as the founders of The Sentinel Echo, the newspaper has a storied history of owners, publishers and editors since its inception in 1843.

The Mountain Echo was first published in Barbourville in 1843. A.R. Dyche was a frequent visitor to the Barbourville area as well as to Pulaski, Lee, Pike, Bell, Harlan and other southeastern Kentucky communities to gather news, according to articles in the Diamond Jubilee edition of The Sentinel Echo.

As times changed, so did the newspaper business. The publishers of the newspaper began modernizing in the early 1890s, bringing in a Cincinnati country cylinder that printed two 7-column pages at a time. A year later, a gasoline heated steam engine earned the name of the "Echo Steam Print."

In 1983, the 7x11 Gordon and 11x17 Nonpariel presses got their start, bringing the Mountain Echo to full modernization.

The printing presses were not the sole advances made in the newspaper business. Leadership of The Mountain Echo revolved as the turn of the century approached, as it evolved as a political advocate. Two of the former editors — John Henry Wilson and Vincent Boering — were elected to Congress, while A.R. Dyche served as a state representative. In 1904, the newspaper's legacy of politicians continued with the election of D.C. Edwards to Congress. A fourth person formerly associated with the paper, William Lewis, was elected to Congress in 1948, and continuing the legacy of the paper as a politically charged vehicle in the local area.

In 1907, the London Sentinel made its debut with Russell Dyche as its junior partner, editor and manager. This publication succeeded the Laurel County Local and eventually merged with the Mountain Echo for The Sentinel Echo. That merger came due to London's closer proximity to the railroad than Barbourville, as well as its enhanced mail distribution system.

Through its evolution, The Sentinel Echo has had several homes. The Diamond Jubilee edition lists the first London location as being "in the rear of the Vincent Boering's store, now the old federal building." That would place its first London location as the area where the new federal building sits. The old federal building originally served as the post office.

"The Echo has moved into the Riley Watts blacksmith shop, immediately across Main Street from Mrs. Ann Pollard's home," according to an article in the Diamond Jubilee.

A building at the corner of Sublimity Street (now Fifth Street) and Long Street was the next site for the newspaper, placing that facility where Bonham-Scoville & Riley law office is located. That building offered an upstairs apartment where A.R. Dyche resided. That building was later moved and was occupied by Martin Dyche, according to the article.

In 1904, the newspaper office was moved into the storeroom of Faris & Co. near a gas station. The London Sentinel was established in 1907 in a small frame building near the Hob Nob Cafe, then into "an ironclad building erected especially for it, now Harrison's Shoe Shop." The latter named building is now operating as Select Labs at the corner of East Fifth and South Hill Streets.

The London Sentinel moved to a former Mountain Echo location in 1909, where the two papers combined to create The Sentinel Echo. The newspaper office remained in that location from 1909 to 1949, marking a 40-year residency.

The Sentinel Echo moved to the Dyche Garage building, listed as "Sublimity Street next to the courthouse," where it was headquartered for 71 years. During that time, the newspaper saw the exit of the Dyche family from the newspaper business when the newspaper was sold to Al Smith. Smith owned several newspapers over his career, and later sold The Sentinel Echo to corporate ownership, marking the end of a legacy of family and locally-owned newspaper for the London community.

Now owned by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., The Sentinel Echo publishes each Wednesday from its current location on C V B Drive, next to Forcht Bank. That move merged another CNHI publication, the Times Tribune (Corbin), to the London location. The offices for the sister newspapers are housed in front of Southeast Kentucky Publishing, also owned by CNHI, which prints The Sentinel Echo, Times Tribune, Richmond Register, Commonwealth Journal (Somerset), Mount Vernon Signal, Princeton, KY's The Banner, and most recently, University of the Cumberlands' student publication, The Patriot.