What a find. Chuck Corbett, owner of Harrison Street Antiques, at 12391 Harrison Street, Rt. 28, Summerville, PA found a rare piece of history of Emlenton and this newspaper.
The Emlenton News got its start in 1885, then the, Home News, by Erastus “Rasty” Cubbison. After Rasty published his first volume of the Home News, he renamed the paper, The Emlenton News. Rasty published his paper until his death in 1917.
It was in 1918, when Clarence M. Stewart and W. Burton Willbert took over the operation. (see card right)
When Stewart died in 1945 Willbert added a new partner, William S. Campbell of Clarion. Willbert retired in 1955. Campbell moved the office to larger quarters behind the Hickman Lumber Building and below the railroad tracks and there he published the paper until his death in 1967. In 1968, Walter J. Staab, a newspaper man from Pittsburgh, with 23 years of experience, bought the business and consolidated The Emlenton News and The Clarion County Progress into The Progress News. In 1975, the operation returned to near the paper’s original location on Main Street, to the former Columbia Gas office at 410 Main St. The original news office would have been located at 408 Main St. where the Emlenton VFD is today, but on the east side of the building.
Today the paper is published by David J. Staab, son of Walter J. Staab. Dave took over the operation in 1984.
The copy of the business card above, shows the company’s phone number to be No. 35, with the Valley Telephone Co. The phone number that was used for the newspaper in 1968 when purchased by Walter Staab, was 412-867-2435. A result of expanding phone numbers since 1918. Today, only the area code has changed. It is now 724-867-2435.
On the back of the card, right, shows the train schedule and the miles to neighboring towns from Emlenton.
I would like to thank, Chuck Corbett, owner of Harrison Street Antiques, for gifting me this card from 1918. I’ve always enjoyed learning the history of Emlenton, the area and the newspaper.
The anntique store is open Friday and Saturday, from 9 to 5 P.M. and Sunday, from 12 to 4 P.M.
Dave Staab, Editor
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