The historic news archives of Tipton County, Tennessee, read like a chronicle of the American river frontier and the deep agricultural South. In the 1820s and 1830s, local dispatches often focused on the bustling river port of Randolph, which at the time routinely outshipped nearby Memphis in cotton bales and seemed destined to become the premier steamboat depot of West Tennessee. Mid-19th-century bulletins heavily tracked the expansion of the Memphis and Ohio Railroad through Mason, followed by the tragic wartime headlines of 1862 when Union troops burned the port of Randolph to the ground. For decades, the local town square was dominated by updates on the county’s booming cotton ginning industry—which peaked in 1929 with nearly 80,000 acres planted—interspersed with coverage of major social events like the famous Confederate Soldiers’ Reunions held in Brighton and Covington.
In contrast, current news stories from Tipton County highlight a vibrant, modern community balancing rapid suburban growth with its traditional rural heritage. Contemporary headlines in The Covington Leader focus on civic improvements, county election cycles, and local education, such as the rollout of high school summer internship programs and regional athletic achievements. The community’s cultural calendar remains front-page news, with announcements highlighting the world’s oldest Bar-B-Que Cooking Contest in Covington and the upcoming schedule for the popular Depot Beats music series. While modern infrastructure, residential zoning, and economic updates now lead the news feed, the local media still maintains a distinct small-town flavor, keeping residents tethered to the same collective spirit that has defined the county for over two centuries.
1886 Mt. Zion Church Trustees
1886 Mt. Zion Church Trustees | The story of early Munford, Tennessee, cannot be told without examining the lives of the men who quite literally held its foundation in their hands. When the administrators of the A. D. Wooten estate deeded a prime one-acre town lot to the trustees of the Mount Zion Methodist Episcopal ...
A Moonshiner in Hoe
A MOONSHINER IN HOE | MAGNOLIA, Ark., Oct. 16. – Drew Short, 70 years old, was yesterday arrested and brought in town by Deputy United States Marshal Dumas, charged with illicit distilling. Short has been running a blind tiger for some time, but has successfully evaded the officers of the law until now. He is ...
A RHYTHM IN THE AIR: WHEN MEMPHIS JAZZ SWEPT THROUGH COVINGTON
ELKS DANCE | Anyone who knows me knows I’ve always had a fondness for old newspapers. In our house, that usually means my husband is watching Newsmax while I’m quietly reading my way through papers from the late 1800s and early 1900s. While going through those archives recently, I came across a small notice that pulled ...
A Warning Voice from J. B. Carne
An extract from a funeral oration delivered by the Rev. J. B. Carne, pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Covington, Tenn., on the death of Capt. J. L. Cooper, who was killed in that place the 19th of November, by Jas. A. Slaughter. Let the people heed the warning voice and let them see ...
All for Love
Suicide Yesterday of Christian Witzel, at Widow McEwen’s, on the Raleigh Road. A Case of Unrequited Affection and Desperate Love – “O, ‘Twas Love, ‘Twas Love that Set the World on Fire” ALL FOR LOVE | Yesterday morning a negro, almost breathless with excitement rushed into the office of Justice J. M. Holst and informed him that ...
Brighton’s Class of 1968 got together for its 50th Reunion
BRIGHTON’S CLASS OF 1968 GOT TOGETHER FOR ITS 50TH REUNION | Brighton High School Class of 1968 met for their 50th Reunion at the Covington Country Club, Saturday Evening, July 28. After a years planning, the committee which consisted of Nita Joy Blanchard, Linda Smith Boswell, Ginger Hu?man Carter, Gwen Blalack Farmer, Bobbie Nell Moses Nevils, ...
Continued Health – The Fair – Help for Memphis
From an Occasional Correspondent. – Continued Health – The Fair – Help for Memphis CONTINUED HEALTH | Tipton County, Tenn., October 27, 1873 — The general health of our county is probably better than it has been, though there has been several deaths in the last few days at Covington. On Saturday last Mr. Span, ...
Covington Plane Crash
COVINGTON PLANE CRASH | Investigators with the Federal Aviation Administration, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and the Tipton County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a plant crash in northeast Covington. The crash occurred Saturday night. Deputies Dispatched Deputies were dispatched at approximately 5:26 p.m. to an area of farmland regarding a plane crash. The farm was ...
Covington, Tenn. Current Happenings
A Live Little Town – The Fourth of July Celebration – Personal Mention. Occasional Correspondence of the Appeal. Covington, July 7, – Your correspondent paid a short visit to the little town of Henning, about nine miles from here, on the Chesapeake, Ohio and South western railway, this week. It is a nice looking place, having about ...
Delinquent tax Notices for Districts 9 & 10
Delinquent Tax Notices District No. 9 Claxton heirs, 49 acres Cobb, Ed, one lot Cothran, E. G., Estate, 236 acres Cox, Reuben, 75 acres Davis, Elisha Estate, 47 acres Elcan, Charlie, 66, 64 acres Fields, J. F. heirs, 116 acres Fields, Daniel, one lot, 15 acres Fields, Bal, two lots Gillihan, Martha, 37 acres Green, Sampson, three lots Herring, S. A. 88, 100 aces Harvey Gin Co., one ...
Historic West Tennessee Church & Cemetery Targeted by Vandals
HISTORIC WEST TENNESSEE CHURCH AND CEMETERY TARGETED BY VANDALS | (WMC-TV) – Churches and cemeteries should be peaceful places, but members of Old Trinity Episcopal Church in Mason, Tennessee said that is not the case after their historic house of worship has been desecrated by vandals. Old Trinity Episcopal Church and Cemetery sit on the National Historic ...
Important City Council Meeting
Ten New Ordinances Enacted and Are Now Laws – No Bicycle Riding on the Sidewalks. IMPORTANT CITY COUNCIL MEETING | The Board of Mayor and Aldermen of Covington at its last meeting enacted various and sundry ordinances. First they enacted an ordinance prohibiting disorderly festivals, dances, entertainments, etc, and fixed the fine at from $2 ...
Incidents in Covington 1873
INCIDENTS IN COVINGTON 1873 | When the train from Memphis, crowded with gentlemen, with now and then a plug-ugly sandwitched most uncomfortably among decent people, reached Covington, a great concourse of people greeted us. We repaired to a grove hard by, when the mayor of Covington, an excellent type – setter of the ...
Jail at Covington is Insecure
The Great Escape: When Tipton County’s “Heavy Boarders” Checked Out Early One of my favorite things about digging through old newspapers is that you never know what you’re going to find. Some days it’s a heartbreaking obituary or a forgotten Civil War letter. Other days it’s a tiny newspaper clipping that reminds you people in the ...
Lanterns, Jazz, and a Summer Night: Looking Back at a 1920 Moonlight Picnic
MOONLIGHT PICNIC AND DANCE | There is something magical about finding a tiny, forgotten window into the past. While scanning through an old June 1920 archive of The Covington Leader, a small notice caught my eye. It wasn’t a headline about world politics or major historical events, but rather a warm invitation to a party ...
Local News Happenings June 17, 1898
The Covington Leader Covington, Tenn., June 17, 1898 LOCAL NEWS HAPPENINGS LOCAL NEWS HAPPENINGS JUNE 17, 1898 | Mrs. J. L. Adams, of Munford, was reported quite sick Tuesday. Buy your ice cream freezers at Covington Hardware Co’s. Fallin & Paine are now employed in building a new porch at Mr. John T. Jacock’s dwelling. White Mountain and ...
Loft, Eddie Earl and Kate Maurine Joyner
Love, Faith, and the Road to Rio: The Remarkable Journey of Earl and Katie Loft EDDIE EARL AND KATE MAURINE JOYNER LOFT | If you look at a tiny newspaper clipping from November 1922 in Tipton County, Tennessee, you might think it’s just another standard wedding announcement. But behind those faded letters is a doorway to ...
Maxwell, Elijah Jefferson – Tennessee’s Modern Enoch Arden
The Ultimate Sacrifice: The Heartbreaking, True Story of Tennessee’s Modern ‘Enoch Arden’ ELIJAH JEFFERSON MAXWELL | I LOVE sifting through old newspapers! Today, while doing just that, I came across a story that seems almost too unbelievable to be true. At first glance, it reads like the plot of a novel—a man goes off to ...
Meet centenarian Jessie Lawson
MEET CENTENARIAN JESSIE LAWSON | On Oct. 9, Jessie Lawson turned 100. Born in Millington near the close of World War I, he was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Nickleberry. His mother passed away shortly after he was born and his father had to work out of town to provide baby formula for the young ...
Meeting of the Executive Committee 1989
MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 1989 | The Democratic county executive committee held a session shortly after the convention adjourned Tuesday evening and organized by electing J. C. Walker chairman. R. B. Baptist secretary, and J. T. Talley assistant secretary. We are informed that there were some remarkable proceedings in the committee. Mr. .J. ...