History

In 1896, Joseph L. Bristow

Joseph L. Bristow

Joseph Little Bristow was an American Republican politician from Kansas.Born outside Hazel Green, Kentucky, he moved to Kansas when he was twelve. He graduated from Baker University when he was 25....

, who later was elected U.S. senator, and Henry J. Allen

Henry Justin Allen

Henry Justin Allen was the 21st Governor of Kansas and U.S. Senator from Kansas .Allen was born in Warren County, Pennsylvania to John and Rebecca Elizabeth Allen...

, who later became an editor at the Wichita Beacon, Kansas governor, and U.S. senator decided to buy the weekly Evening Ottawa and turn it into a daily newspaper. The Evening Ottawa was free at first, distributed to nearly all of Ottawa, north and south of the Marais des Cygnes River

Marais des Cygnes River

The Marais des Cygnes River is a principal tributary of the Osage River, about long, in eastern Kansas and western Missouri in the United States. Via the Osage and Missouri rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River...

. This was to give the residents of Ottawa a feel for the new newspaper. Then it was made into a subscription for ten cents a week. The newspaper was four pages in a six-column format.

When Bristow and Allen broke up their partnership in 1907, Allen sold it to Ralph A. Harris. Harris was a farmer, banker and assistant postmaster in Franklin County

Franklin County, Kansas

Franklin County is a county located in East Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 25,992. Its county seat and most populous city is Ottawa...

. When he died in 1930, one of his sons, Sidney F. Harris, took over The Herald. Harris' other son, John P. Harris, was an editor at the Chanute Tribune. Members of the Harris family continue in the newspaper business to this day. The Harris Enterprises Inc. is a majority stockholder of the Ottawa Herald, other local newspapers, and small advertising agencies.

The Ottawa Herald was not the first daily newspaper to be published in Ottawa, Kansas. That honor belongs to The Republican, which was created in 1879, which competed with The Herald until Ralph A. Harris bought and consolidated The Republican into The Herald in 1915.

Jeanny Sharp is the current editor of the Ottawa Herald.