Newspapers & Radio

The first newspaper in the county was a four page, letter-size, weekly called Rip’s Pop Gun. Named for the nickname of its publisher, its circulation began in 1854; it is unknown how long it ran. In the same year, The Carolina Intelligencer began circulating. Edited and printed by A. J. Cansler, it was a Baptist denominational paper.

Over the next several decades, newspapers came and went. Dozens of Cleveland County newspapers have been digitized and can be accessed at DigitalNC.org or Chronicling America. Lincoln County newspapers can be accessed here. Rutherford County newspapers can be accessed here.

Below is a summary of historical newspapers, along with their publication periods, and first publishers and/or editors.

A Sampling of Local News Over the Years

Some of these articles have been automatically clipped from the online images, then organized into two or three columns for optimal display on your computer screen. As a result, they may not look exactly as they did on the original page. The articles can be seen in their original form by visiting the cited online source.

Antebellum Years, 1836-1861

The Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1875

The Rise of Industry, 1876-1890

The Progressive Era, 1890-1929

The Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945

Post-War, Civil Rights, and Cold War Era, 1945-1991

There were also earlier articles about people and events in the Charlotte and Raleigh newspapers of the day. Those may be found at Newspapers.com, although a paid subscription is required.

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Radio

WOHS. The first radio station in Cleveland County started in 1946 as WOHS, 730 AM. Robert Wallace was the manager and soon turned over the programming to Hugh Dover. Dover had a popular morning show called “Carolina in the Morning.” One segment of his show was wishing happy birthday to those having a birthday, and so became known as the “Happy Birthday Man.”

Both Don Gibson and Earl Scruggs went on WOHS. Dover and Scruggs had been childhood friends, growing up in the Flint Hill community. Dover’s show ran for 38 years. Below is an audio of Hugh Dover interviewing Earl Scruggs.

In the 1960s, high schooler Doug Limerick worked at night at WOHS playing Top 40 hits. Limerick went on to become a news correspondent for ABC Radio Network. Limerick won two Edward R. Murrow awards–one for his coverage of the terror attacks on 9/11.

In 1992, Calvin Hastings bought WOHS. It would become one of four radio stations owned by Hastings known locally as the Piedmont Superstations. It aired numerous sports events and changed its format from country music to oldies.

In 2007, WOHS made national and international news when DJ Tim Biggerstaff began to have a seizure while on air. He asked for help on the air and a listener called 9-1-1. He ended up being interviewed by BBC London, Today and People Magazine.

By April 2009, WOHS went silent. Its dormant license was purchased and moved to Cramerton, NC; its call letters were changed to WZGV. In 2010, another Shelby radio station, WADA, took the WOHS call letters.

WKMT. When Don Gibson hosted “Sons of the Soil” on WOHS in the early 1950s, he told Jonas Bridges, an announcer on the show, that he would write a song that would make him rich. Bridges didn’t believe him, but he ended up playing “Oh Lonesome Me” on WKMT in 1957.

In 1953, R. H. Whitesides built WKMT, 1220 AM radio in Kings Mountain. It was signed on by Jonas Bridges who would later become its owner. The station changed its call letters to WDYT in 2006.

WADA. In 1958, Boyce Hanna and Harold Knowles began the operation of WADA radio, 1390 AM. Later Hanna became the sole owner.

In 1986, the president and general manager of the station, Debbie Clary, changed the format from country music to talk radio. She was among the first in the area to start airing “The Rush Limbaugh Show.”

In 2010, WADA took the WOHS call letters.