Rivers Printing Company

The Watauga Democrat began as a partisan newspaper for the 1888 election.  Although the newspaper folded after the election, the equipment and masthead were soon revived by Robert C. “Bob” Rivers and Daniel Baker “D.B.” Dougherty in 1889.  Rivers was an experienced newspaper man who had previously been the publisher of the rival Watauga Enterprise.  Dougherty was one of Boone’s most prominent citizens, serving the community as Postmaster and Justice of the Peace before joining Rivers in the newspaper business.

For the first ten years of operation, Dougherty and Rivers worked together as Editor and Publisher, respectively, to produce a weekly newspaper for the town of Boone.  They advocated for better roads, the extension of the railroad, and an increase in funding for Education.  In 1899, Dougherty’s two sons opened Watauga Academy, a training schools for teachers which would later evolve into Appalachian State University.  The elder Dougherty also retired as Editor of the paper, selling his shares to Rivers.  D.B. Dougherty died a few years later in 1902.

Gregarious and hard working, Rivers was a natural newspaper man.  He was born at the dawn of the American Civil War and grew up in Boone during the era of reconstruction.  After taking sole ownership of the paper, Rivers did all the jobs.  He sold advertisements, wrote all the articles, hand set the type and printed all the copies.  The paper came out every Thursday and usually consisted of four pages.  If the paper shipment was delayed, he would get on a horse and ride down the mountain to Lenoir to get enough paper to print an edition.      

Bob Rivers served as publisher until his death in 1933.  At his funeral, every minister in town wanted to be part of the official ceremony.  He was succeeded by his son, Bob Rivers Jr.  The Rivers family owned the paper until 1994.  

Today the newspaper is owned by Jones Media which also owns The Mountain Times and the Rivers Printing Company building is home to Murphy’s Restaurant and Pub.