New Local Newspaper: Times-Star To Begin November 6th -- October 28, 2014 -- Collinsville, OK -- www.cvilleok.com

Bill Johnston will soon be publishing a locally owned newspaper in Collinsville from his new office at 1112 W. Main (in the former Opera House) and just around the corner from where "The Collinsville Star" was printed many years ago.

Bill Johnston had most recently been editor of the "Collinsville News" which was absorbed into the "Owasso Reporter" back in April 2014 and Collinsville appears to be fading in relevance to that Owasso publication owned by an out of state corporation. Bill recently "retired" from that position to take on this new opportunity with local sponsorship. Johnston became the "Collinsville News" editor in 2005 following Pete Henshaw and Mike McCarthy.

The new "Times Star" newspaper will make it's first appearance on newstands and local retail stores on Thursday November 6, 2014. The locally owned newspaper will be sold for 75 cents per issue individually and mail subscriptions are available.

If you would like to subscribe, advertise or submit news contact Bill Johnston at collinsvilletimesstar@gmail.com or (918) 710-5740. His office is located at 1112 W. Main (a few doors east of the Chamber of Commerce / CDI office and City Hall) and a stone's throw from his former office across the street.

Collinsville had it's own newspaper for almost 115 years starting when W.L. Wright printed Vol. 1 No. 1 of "The Collinsville News" on May 11, 1899 in Collinsville, Indian Territory. That newspaper survived under 88 years of publication by the Wright family until it was sold in Feb. 1987 to Retherford Publications. Following Bill Retherford's death the "Collinsville News" was purchased by CPI (an Arkansas based corporation) in late 2005. The "Collinsville News" (along with a long list of local community newspapers) was continued in publication weekly by CPI until April 2014 when it ceased as a standalone publication. News from Collinsville then appeared under the title of "Collinsville News" but appeared inside the printed "Owasso Reporter". Just a week ago (Oct. 20, 2014) the standalone "Collinsvile News" web site was absorbed into the "Owasso Reporter''s" web site.

Previous Coverage

Oct. 17, 2014 Collinsville Downtown Inc.
Facebook Post:
What a momentous day! Many exciting things happening today. Some of which we can share and some will be revealed at a later date. It was announced that Collinsville will now have it's OWN newspaper! The Times Star - Collinsville's Own Newspaper will begin publication the first Thursday in November! The new owner/publisher will be Bill Johnston, former editor of The Collinsville News. We would encourage EVERYONE to take advantage of this local advertising opportunity. The advertising Manager is Court Newkirk. You can reach the sales office at 918-710-5743! This will be the ONLY printed news publication dedicated entirely to COLLINSVILLE! Subscribe now! Advertise now! Keep this paper alive!

This web site is brought to you by the Newspaper Museum In Collinsville and the other advertisers appearing on these pages. If you would like to provide news content or advertisements ... contact Ted Wright via wrightted@aol.com.
1110 W. Main, Collinsville, OK 74021

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Ted Wright -- last update 10/28/2014 (NewspaperToBegin.html) www.cvilleok.com
Copyright 2014 -- Collinsville, Oklahoma

"The Collinsville News" survived the longest but it was far from the only newspaper in Collinsville over the years. The following list is only partial and the publication years are just my best guess based on what I discovered in my limited research in the past 15 or so years (and rounded off to simplify). Several of the names came and went with different owners over the years. During the smelter boom days there were three newspaper at the same time and those even published daily newspapers for short periods in addition to the traditional weekly printing cycle.

The name of the new (2014) newspaper pays homage to two of those former Collinsville papers (Times & Star) and both were published by Pete M. Eyler.

-- Ted Wright -- 10/28/2014

1899 - 2014 The Collinsville News
1902 - 1904 The Collinsville Tribune
1904 - 19?? The Collinsville Times
1913 - 1920 The Collinsville Star (daily stopped in 1918)
1913 The Rogers Co. Voice (a socialist newspaper)
1916 - 1920 The Collinsville Daily News
1921 - 1923 The Collinsville News-Star
1970s/80s? - The Collinsville Chronicle
1970s/80s? - The Collinsville Herald
1985 -- "Cardinal Pride" CHS newspaper by students

In Feb. 1987 "The Collinsville News" & "The Collinsville Herald" were combined into the Collinsville News-Herald (by Bill Retherford) before eventually reverting to "Collinsville News"

In an ironic twist ... when I was growing up in Collinsville in the 1950s and 1960's the tiny community of Owasso (relative to Collinsville size) had it's news printed on a page called "The Owasson" inside "The Collinsville News" printed by my parents. Years later Owasso had experienced explosive growth and in 2014 Collinsville news was being printed inside Owasso's newspaper. -- Ted

And although my cvilleok.com news web site has never been in print format it has been providing news for and about Collinsville since March of 2003. The new Times-Star will have a web site presence also but that is still in development according to Bill Johnston this week.

This photo (from about 1915) shows the same stone star that Bill Johnston is posing with in the 2014 photo at the top of this page. The view is from the intersection of 12th and Main and is in the north (back) portion of the current Chamber / CDI office building.

Editorial By Ted Wright

Getting another chance for a printed Collinsville specific newspaper is a golden opportunity for this community.

Don't take it for granted!!

No Collinsville business can survive without support from the community. It is in the best interest of Collinsville to have this resource. Support the effort by your newspaper purchases, subscriptions, advertising and by submitting news.

And On A Personal Note:
If you (& I) weren't already confused enough on who I am and what my role may be with this new newspaper ... I will try to clarify:

I am Ted Wright ... great grandson of "The Collinsville News" founder W. L. Wright. I am the owner of the "Newspaper Museum In Collinsville" and www.cvilleok.com.

I am employed by Collinsville Public Schools with an explicit task to maintain the school's web site: www.collinsville.k12.ok.us.

I also have an implicit task (which the school allows me great flexibility to meet) of providing school & community & historical information to Collinsville via any available media. My primary choice has been (and will continue to be) my own news web site: www.cvilleok.com (with free online news for and about Collinsville).

In the past (although we were competitors for both news and advertising) I contributed occasional photos and information for use on the "Collinsville News". That may continue with a smaller selection to the "Owasso Reporter". I also contribute HS football photos to the Tulsa World for their slideshows.

Bill Johnston has asked me to be a contributor to the new Times Star newspaper and I will do that as best I can with the time available and consistent with my tasking by the school.

You have likely noticed my style over the past 11+ years on cvilleok that I communicate with an abundance of photos and as few words as possible. This page is about as wordy as I get.

-- Ted Wright 10/28/2014

Location For "Collinsville Times" in ~1905?

This location for the Mr. Eyler's "Collinsville Times" was on the S.E. corner of 11th and Main where Silver Dollar Cafe sits today. Mr. Wright's "The Collinsville News" was just two door to the east at that time also.

It seems that all of the Collinsville newspaper offices (at least the ones I'm aware of) have been located within about a block and a half of each other in downtown Collinsville. That is if you exclude the very first home of "The Collinsville News" that was at the original Collinsville townsite (about a mile east of the current townsite) in 1899 and early 1900. -- Ted