Publisher


    Joshua Byers, Publisher, ext. 18


    jbyers@heartlandpublications.com

News


    Ralph B. Davis, III, Managing Editor, ext. 17


    web@floydcountytimes.com

    Jack Latta,Staff Writer


    jhale@hotmail.com

    Tom Doty, Contributing Writer


    dotyfox@pennswoods.net

    General News Submissions


    news@floydcountytimes.com

    Obituaries


    obits@floydcountytimes.com

Features/Business/Education


   Kathy Prater, Features Editor, ext. 25


    features@floydcountytimes.com

    Community Calendar


    calendar@floydcountytimes.com

Sports


    Steve LeMaster, Sports Editor, ext. 22


    sports@floydcountytimes.com

Advertising

    Kimberly Frasure, Advertising Manager, ext. 24

    Brittany Hites, Account Representative

    Jamie VanHoose, Account Representative

    Leighann Williams, Classified Ads, ext. 19

    Evelena Osborne, Receptionist/Ad Clerk, ext. 10


    classifieds@floydcountytimes.com

    General Advertising Submissions


    advertising@floydcountytimes.com

Composition

    Willie Conley, ext. 28


    willie@floydcountytimes.com

    Hannah Adams, ext. 27


    hannah@floydcountytimes.com

    General Composing Submissions


    composing@floydcountytimes.com

Circulation


    Jenny Ousley, Circulation Manager, ext. 15


    pwilson@floydcountytimes.com

    Subscriptions


    subscribe@floydcountytimes.com

Business Office

    Joy Baldridge, Billing/Accounts Payable, ext. 14


    accounting@floydcountytimes.com

    General Accounting Questions


    accounting@floydcountytimes.com

Address

P.O. Box 390


263 South Central Avenue


Prestonsburg, KY 41653



606/886-8506


606/886-3603 (fax)




Hours-Deadlines


Customer Service Hours



The Floyd County Times offices are open to customers Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.



Deadlines

Wednesday

Friday

Sunday

Regional Shopper Stopper




History

History of the Floyd County Times






In its 75 years of publishing, The Floyd County Times has missed only one issue, when 27 inches of floodwater crept into the building during the 1957 flood. The issue was half completed when the water overtook the staff’s efforts, but was finished and put on shelves at the first available opportunity.

To date The Floyd County Times has been flooded three times and burned twice since opening its doors in 1927. It was on Friday, June 17 of that year that the first issue was printed, and since that time — through floods, fires and some changing of hands — The Floyd County Times has maintained a set course.



For well over half a century the backbone of this endurance was Times Editor Norman Allen. Allen was the editor when the first issue rolled off the press in 1927.



Allen, at the helm with partner H.L. Goble, who was the business manager and printer/linotype operator, began his long relationship with the paper at its first office located on Court Street in Prestonsburg.



The resolve that was to become the driving force behind the newspaper was tested early when one year later, in 1928, a fire destroyed the building. Allen, stifled briefly but not defeated, managed not only to reopen, but to expand.



On June 1, 1928, with new partner C.B. Latta Sr., Allen bought out the rival Prestonsburg Post from A.C. Harlowe for $7,000. Harlowe had owned and edited the Post since 1914. A move was made to the old Bargain Store building and the presses were running again.



It would be a mere nine years later when another deal and relocation would bring The Times to its present location on what was then Third Street.



In 1937, Allen bought out his partner and made the move to Third Street. One year later, in 1938, H.L. Goble’s son, James E. Goble, joined the newspaper staff and remains at The Times today as a proofreader. H.L. Goble’s other sons — John H. and Charles A. — also followed him in the printing business. H.L. Goble continued to work at The Times until his death in 1953.



Through the years, Allen and his children continued their enduring commitment to publishing a comprehensive county-wide newspaper. Adjusting to changes in the business, such as the switch in 1972 from laborious movable type to offset printing, Allen established the paper he helped build. Allen’s children, David, Barbara, Sharon, Paul Neil and Quentin, became intimately involved in the newspapering business.



Both Sharon and Quentin worked briefly with their father and then moved on while David became advertising manager and Paul Neil became a photographer and refined his skills as a darkroom expert. But it would be Allen’s daughter and assistant, Barbara, who would ultimately inherit her father’s position as publisher.



The new position came to her tragically, however, after Norman Allen died on March 24, 1986.



The long-time editor and his wife, Alka, were returning from Lexington when Allen lost control of the car near Campton and plunged over a lakeside embankment. Allen suffered a broken jaw in the accident, while his wife sustained several serious injuries as well. After nearly a month at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Lexington, Allen died at the age of 83.



His daughter, Barbara Allen Heinze, would work as Times publisher for about two years before retiring and selling the paper to Smith Newspapers Inc., a company established in 1972 by Fort Payne, Ala. native Ben M. Smith. The company was incorporated under the new title of Floyd County Newspapers Inc. in a deal finalized on June 17, 1988. In those negotiations Smith Newspapers acquired 100 percent of The Times, which was, at that time, the state’s largest selling weekly, as well as one-third ownership in Kentucky Highlands Inc., which operated the Prestonsburg plant where the paper was printed.



Smith, which also owned the Appalachian News-Express at that time, would place current News-Express publisher Marty Backus at the helm as both publisher and president of Floyd County Newspapers Inc.



The Times continued under the Smith flag until 1998, when it was sold to Community Newspapers Holding Inc. (CNHI).



CNHI owns and operate community newspapers throughout the southeastern portion of the United States.



In May 2004, the Times was sold, along with a number of other CNHI locations, to Heartland Publications, LLC., headquartered in Jacksonville Beach, FL. Heartland Publications will continue to focus on community newspapers in small to mid-sized markets, focusing on local news and events.



The Times, which has won numerous editorial and advertising awards, including recognition in 1990 as the state’s best multi-weekly paper, has endured much throughout its history as a staple business in Floyd County. The newspaper Norman Allen pushed to become a voice “of and for Floyd County” has progressed and grown with the ever-changing technology that keeps newspapers on the cutting edge, updating each year and moving ahead in commitment and quality.