Avon Park Times, 1928–1942

Summary

The Avon Park Times was established in January 1928 by the Schaefer-Broking Printing Company with Hayden Williams as editor.[times-run][maxwell-1976] Surviving issues demonstrate that the paper began publishing in early 1928—evidenced by Vol. 1, No. 16 dated 4 May 1928—correcting earlier secondary literature that dated its founding to 1929.[times-run][maxwell-1976] Under the successive editorial direction of Hayden Williams, veteran newspaperman W. M. (Bill) Hetherington (from February 1930), and owner William Beckett, The Times documented fourteen critical years encompassing the aftermath of the 1926 bust, the full course of the Great Depression, and the eve of World War II.[times-run][brooksville-1934-06-14][maxwell-1976]

The Avon Park Historical Society holds an extensive digitized archive of 626 issues spanning from 4 May 1928 through 8 April 1942, comprising 5,638 total pages.[times-run]

The run

Attribute	Details
Place of publication	Avon Park, Highlands County, Florida
Founding publisher	Schaefer-Broking Printing Company (Hayden Williams, editor)
Subsequent management	W. M. (Bill) Hetherington (1930–1934); William Beckett (1930–1934); Gilbert Freeman consolidation (1934)
Digitized collection	626 issues (5,638 pages) spanning 4 May 1928 to 8 April 1942
Frequency	Weekly
Format	High-resolution PDF with complete selectable OCR text layer
Physical repository	Avon Park Historical Society Depot Museum, Avon Park, Florida

Historical significance and coverage

Railway expansion and the depot

The Times captured the arrival and expansion of the Seaboard Air Line Railway’s Miami extension through Avon Park in the late 1920s.[times-run] Its pages chronicle the construction, formal opening, and passenger service of the Seaboard passenger depot on Museum Avenue—the historic masonry building that now houses the Avon Park Historical Society Depot Museum.[times-run][maxwell-1976]

Depression-era banking and municipal insolvency

As the economic crisis deepened after 1929, The Times provided exhaustive local coverage of:

• The closure and liquidation of the First National Bank of Avon Park and the private banking house of B. F. West & Company.[times-run][maxwell-1976]
• The City of Avon Park’s default on boom-time municipal improvement bonds and subsequent protracted debt refunding negotiations.[times-run]
• Local reaction to the R. E. Crummer debt compositions and the litigation that culminated in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling American United Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. City of Avon Park in 1940.[times-run][us-supreme-court-1940]

New Deal relief and infrastructure

Throughout the 1930s, The Times recorded federal relief efforts across the Ridge:

• The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps at Highlands Hammock State Park.[times-run]
• Works Progress Administration (WPA) building projects, including paving of city curbs, school renovations, stormwater drainage systems, and the municipal airport.[times-run]
• The Federal Writers’ Project local surveys, including Barbara Berry Darsey’s historical compilations.[times-run]

World War II preparation

In its final volumes leading up to April 1942, The Times reported on early wartime mobilization:

• Local Selective Service draft registrations and military enlistments.[times-run]
• Establishment of the Lodwick Aviation School and pilot training operations at the municipal airfield.[times-run]
• The initial federal land condemnations in eastern Highlands and Polk counties that created the Avon Park Bombing Range.[times-run]

Archival arrangement and access

The digitized collection is cataloged in chronological directories by year and month. Every issue is stored as a deskewed, searchable PDF:

• File naming convention: Avon_Park_Times-<Month>-<Day>-<Year>[-vol<V>-num<N>].pdf
• Date span: 4 May 1928 through 8 April 1942
• Digital assets are maintained in the Avon Park Historical Society research repository.

References

• times-run — Schaefer-Broking Printing Company, Hayden Williams, W. M. Hetherington, and William Beckett, publishers. Avon Park Times (Avon Park, Fla.), 1928–1942, digitized collection of 626 issues. 8 April 1942. Held at the Avon Park Historical Society Depot Museum, Avon Park, Florida
• maxwell-1976 — Leoma Bradshaw Maxwell. The First Hundred Years of Avon Park, Florida. 1976. the-first-hundred-years-of-avon-park_leoma-bradshaw-maxwell_1976.md
• brooksville-1934-06-14 — The Brooksville Journal (Brooksville, Fla.). The Brooksville Journal, 14 June 1934, page 2, quoting the Avon Park Times. 14 June 1934. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn95047246/1934-06-14/ed-1/?sp=2
• us-supreme-court-1940 — Supreme Court of the United States. American United Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. City of Avon Park, 311 U.S. 138 (1940). 25 November 1940. american-united-v-city-of-avon-park-1940.md

Related

• The newspapers of Avon Park
• Report: Avon Park Newspapers and the Pioneer Press
• Reference: American United Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. City of Avon Park, 311 U.S. 138 (1940)
• Reference: The Scenic Highlands, 1938–1974
• Reference: Avon Park Sun, 1948–1979

Where this comes from

Evidence

corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.

Review

unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.

Rights

society

Sources

1. Schaefer-Broking Printing Company, Hayden Williams, W. M. Hetherington, and William Beckett, publishers, Avon Park Times (Avon Park, Fla.), 1928–1942, digitized collection of 626 issues (Held at the Avon Park Historical Society Depot Museum, Avon Park, Florida) (1942) · newspaper
2. Leoma Bradshaw Maxwell, The First Hundred Years of Avon Park, Florida (the-first-hundred-years-of-avon-park_leoma-bradshaw-maxwell_1976.md) (1976) · book
3. The Brooksville Journal (Brooksville, Fla.), The Brooksville Journal, 14 June 1934, page 2, quoting the Avon Park Times (1934) · newspaper
4. Supreme Court of the United States, American United Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. City of Avon Park, 311 U.S. 138 (1940) (american-united-v-city-of-avon-park-1940.md) (1940) · official

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