It was established in 1908.
Tradition says that the first edition was printed on silk, but no copy has ever been located.
He opened a store at the railroad cut at Hardwick in 1902. In 1904, he built for Odenville's first doctor, the house now occupied by Joe and Gail Whitten. At the same time he began building his own home on the Springville Cutoff. He moved his family from Julian, AL to Odenville, AL in 1905. Myrtle Anne Maddox Kenney , his daughter, lived in that house until her death on 21 Dec 1993.