The Leaf-Chronicle

''The Leaf-Chronicle'' is a newspaper in the state of Tennessee, founded, officially, in 1808.

First appearing as a weekly newspaper under various names as early as 1808 and eventually as the ''Clarksville Chronicle'', the current name is the result of a subsequent merger, in 1890, with the ''Tobacco Leaf'', named for the area's predominant agricultural crop. (See Goodspeed's History of Tennessee, pg. 817) ''The Leaf-Chronicle'' is published daily in Clarksville, Tennessee. ''The Leaf-Chronicle'' achievement that has perhaps received the greatest acclaim in recent years is its continuing to publish every day after downtown Clarksville and its printing plant received a direct hit from a powerful tornado in January 1999.

History

In 1808, The ''Clarksville Chronicle'' newspaper started publication. However, no editions earlier than 1811 seem to be extant today. Later, ''The Tobacco Leaf'' appeared as a result of the area's reputation as a center for tobacco growing and shipping. Early newspapers started out as four-page journals devoted to political news and advertising. Eventually they grew to become full-fledged publications that featured more news and community information, in addition to having opinion pages with political views. In 1890, The ''Clarksville Chronicle'' merged with ''The Tobacco Leaf'', forming ''The Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle''. In the 1970s, the city's name was dropped as the coverage area increased, shortening the title of the current newspaper to ''The Leaf-Chronicle''.

Throughout the city's history, other newspapers such as ''The New Herald'' (an African-American newspaper), ''The Clarksville-Jeffersonian'', and ''The Clarksville Star'' competed with The ''Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle'', but they are all now defunct.

In December 1995, ''The Leaf-Chronicle'' became part of the Gannett Newspaper Division.

The offices of ''The Leaf-Chronicle'' were severely damaged in the January 22, 1999 tornado; however, the paper was still released the following day, after then publisher F. Gene Washer took editors and reporters into his home to gather news and used the ''Kentucky New Era in Hopkinsville. The Saturday edition of ''The Leaf Chronicle'' was a complete newspaper that featured eight pages of tornado coverage. Within four days, the staff was able to print from the downtown newspaper press, only slightly damaged. The departments worked out of an empty grocery store for eight months, until the main offices were rebuilt and reopened in the fall of 1999.

Washer retired in 2008 and remains the newspaper's publisher emeritus. He was replaced by Andrew Oppmann, also publisher of Murfreesboro's '' Daily News Journal''. Also in 2008, the newspaper consolidated its printing and production operations with its sister newspaper, ''The Tennessean'' in Nashville. Oppmann departed from both Gannett papers in late 2010.

References

External links

The Leaf-Chronicle official site

Official mobile site

Official iPhone site

{{Gannett

Leaf-Chronicle, The
Leaf-Chronicle, The
Leaf-Chronicle, The
Clarksville, Tennessee
1808 establishments in Tennessee