The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
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The Avon Park Press, Pete Ruhl, and the Zolfo Publishing Company (1915–1919)

Between the cessation of O. R. Thacher’s The South Florida Sun around 1912 and the founding of George W. Adams’s Highlands County Pilot in late November 1919, Avon Park possessed an active, quoted weekly newspaper: The Avon Park Press.[lakeland-1915-11-16][gaz-1918] Founded in November 1915 by veteran Florida editor Peter Augustus (“Pete”) Ruhl, the publication survived for four years, operating under local editorial direction while utilizing the printing plant of the Zolfo Springs Publishing Company in neighboring Zolfo Springs.[lakeland-1915-11-05][gaz-1918]

Founding by Pete Ruhl (November 1915)

On 5 November 1915, The Lakeland Evening Telegram announced that P. A. Ruhl, former editor and manager of the Fort Myers Press, had passed through Lakeland en route to Avon Park to establish a newspaper enterprise.[lakeland-1915-11-05] The inaugural issue of The Avon Park Press appeared within days: on 11 November 1915, The Punta Gorda Herald noted receipt of the initial number, commending Brother Ruhl on a paper that was “well edited and well patronized.”[punta-gorda-1915-11-11]

On 16 November 1915, The Lakeland Evening Telegram reported that “Avon Park now has a fine little weekly paper, The Press, with P. A. Ruhl, well known in South Florida newspaper circles, as editor and proprietor.”[lakeland-1915-11-16] Exchange notices confirm that the first dated edition was issued on Friday, 12 November 1915.[punta-gorda-1915-11-18] Within weeks of its establishment, the editorial page was quoted across Florida on congressional politics and state governance.[pensacola-1915-12-29]

The April 1916 Transition to Sebring

Ruhl’s direct tenure at Avon Park proved brief. Alongside his duties at Avon Park, Ruhl had been associated with The Zolfo Truth in Zolfo Springs, thirty miles west along the Peace River.[punta-gorda-1916-04-20] In mid-April 1916, Ruhl severed his connection with both publications to take charge of The Sebring White Way.[desoto-news-1916-04-20][punta-gorda-1916-04-20]

As reported in The De Soto County News on 20 April 1916:

“Hon. Pete Ruhl, who is responsible for the birth of the Avon Park Press, has left it in the care of others, and accepted a promising proposition at Sebring.”[desoto-news-1916-04-20]

The same dispatch noted that pioneer Avon Park magistrate Judge A. Winthrop Sargent—who had edited The Avon Park Idea in 1898—was attending the Florida state editors’ convention in Kissimmee, reflecting continued civic and editorial participation in local press affairs.[desoto-news-1916-04-20]

Continuation Under Zolfo Springs Publishing Company (1916–1919)

Following Ruhl’s departure, The Avon Park Press maintained continuous weekly publication. Florida newspapers regularly reprinted its commentary on civic improvements, regional postmasters, and municipal affairs through 1916 and 1917.[ocala-star-1916-05-24][lakeland-1917-11-22]

The 1918 Florida State Gazetteer and Business Directory listed Avon Park as possessing “a weekly newspaper, The Press,” published by the Zolfo Springs Publishing Co.[gaz-1918] The mechanical production of the paper was conducted at Zolfo Springs under publisher Stuart Hancock, who represented the firm at the Florida Press Association meeting in Jacksonville in May 1919.[pensacola-1919-05-05] The arrangement continued through the summer of 1919, with Florida exchange papers quoting the Press as late as 1 August 1919.[ocala-banner-1919-08-01]

Successor: The Highlands County Pilot

The publication run of The Avon Park Press concluded in the autumn of 1919. In late November 1919, George W. Adams established the Highlands County Pilot at Avon Park, installing a local press plant operated by the Pilot Press.[gaz-1918] By April 1920, the reorganization of local printing was formalized when Adams represented the “Avon Park Printing Co.” at the DeSoto County Press Association meeting in Arcadia, appearing alongside Stuart Hancock of the Zolfo Truth and Pete Ruhl of the Sebring White Way.[punta-gorda-1920-04-08]

The four-year lifespan of The Avon Park Press (November 1915 – autumn 1919) filled the critical transitional period between the arrival of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1912 and the establishment of Avon Park’s permanent, sixty-nine-year continuous publishing lineage beginning with the Pilot in late 1919.

References

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. The Lakeland Evening Telegram, The Lakeland Evening Telegram, 5 November 1915, page 5: P. A. Ruhl En-Route to Avon Park (1915) · newspaper
  2. The Punta Gorda Herald, The Punta Gorda Herald, 11 November 1915, page 4: Avon Park Weekly Paper Called The Press (1915) · newspaper
  3. The Lakeland Evening Telegram, The Lakeland Evening Telegram, 16 November 1915, page 4: The Press, with P. A. Ruhl, Editor and Proprietor (1915) · newspaper
  4. The Punta Gorda Herald, The Punta Gorda Herald, 18 November 1915, page 5: Sparks from Avon Park Press, Nov 12 (1915) · newspaper
  5. The Pensacola Journal, The Pensacola Journal, 29 December 1915, page 4: Editorial Quotes from Avon Park Press (1915) · newspaper
  6. The De Soto County News, The De Soto County News, 20 April 1916, page 5: Avon Park Column on Pete Ruhl and Avon Park Press (1916) · newspaper
  7. The Punta Gorda Herald, The Punta Gorda Herald, 20 April 1916, page 4: P. A. Ruhl Severed Connection with Zolfo Truth (1916) · newspaper
  8. The Ocala Evening Star, The Ocala Evening Star, 24 May 1916, page 4: Comments on the Postmasters' Convention (Avon Park Press) (1916) · newspaper
  9. The Lakeland Evening Telegram, The Lakeland Evening Telegram, 22 November 1917, page 4: Avon Park Press on Civic Drones (1917) · newspaper
  10. R. L. Polk & Co., Florida State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1918, s.v. Avon Park (1918) · book
  11. The Pensacola Journal, The Pensacola Journal, 5 May 1919, page 4: Stuart Hancock, Zolfo Springs Publishing Company (1919) · newspaper
  12. The Ocala Banner, The Ocala Banner, 1 August 1919, page 5: The Avon Park Press on Old Age (1919) · newspaper
  13. The Punta Gorda Herald, The Punta Gorda Herald, 8 April 1920, page 3: DeSoto County Press Association Meeting (1920) · newspaper

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