The History of the Edmond Sun

The Edmond Sun has helped provide a sense of place for Edmondites since it premiered as a small weekly in Oklahoma Territory on a hot July 18, 1889, day, in what was known then as a train refueling town.

Today, many of Edmond’s sprawling population of more than 80,000 residents connect with their community by subscribing to The Edmond Sun.

Oklahoma’s oldest continuously published newspaper and the hometown voice of Edmond during its territorial days, wars, dust bowls and the Great Depression. It has served Edmond through joy and despair, through drought, tornadoes and prosperity.

One-hundred-eighteen years of publication has witnessed Edmond Public Schools grow from the seeds of the Territorial School House to one of the best educational systems in the United States. The Edmond Sun saw the Territorial Normal School evolve into a vibrant University of Central Oklahoma.

Following the great Land Run of 1889, many early day community leaders in Edmond’s history took part in the establishment of Edmond’s history through present day. By telling their stories through the decades, The Edmond Sun has given the community a sense of place amid the backdrop of a sprawling metroplex.

On a hot July 18, 1889, The Edmond Sun premiered as a small four-page weekly in what was then a train refueling town.

Milton “Kicking Bird” Reynolds’ legacy as founder of The Edmond Sun secured more than a century of local news. Though Reynolds died in 1890, his community vision swept across the 20th Century to succeed the new millennium. Countless generations of residents have placed in scrapbooks cut-out articles about family life and impacting news events — all because Reynolds brought his manual printing press, typewriter and determination from Kansas to Edmond in 1889.

“I arrived in Oklahoma and at once began a diligent search for suitable locations for friends ... but Edmond is unquestionably the center of the garden spot of Oklahoma,” he wrote in one of his first issues.

“This is the first issue of The Edmond Sun in the beautiful land,” Reynolds wrote. “It is here to stay and lay the foundations of a growing city and prosperous trade center. The country is here. The people are here to lay the foundations and start right. We commence with schools and churches, temperance and sobriety, enterprise and thrift. The recognition of these factors and a unity of purpose on the part of our people cannot fail to build a prosperous city.

God made the country. Man makes the towns. This city will be what the people will it to be. If there be an intelligent, liberal, progressive spirit and a untied purpose, we shall build up one of the great cities in Oklahoma. There is not doubt of this. We have the location and the surrounding. Edmond is growing and will continue to grow. It is the center of a splendid agricultural country. Here are fine fields. Fruits of all kinds will do well here.”

The newspaper’s first location was in a small wooden-frame building at 109 N. Broadway. It was later moved to the back of the former Citizens National Bank on the southeast corner of Broadway and First Street, where it remained until 1948.

From the Article: The History of the Edmond Sun, by James Coburn

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Milton Kickingbird Reynolds

a True Edmond Pioneer

Milton Reynolds portrays a true image of the frontier journalist. Following work as a news editor/correspondent in Michigan, Nebraska and Kansas, Reynolds participated in the 1889 Land Run and founded the Edmond Evening Sun.  He is commonly known as “Kickingbird Reynolds,” a pen name he chose in honor of his friend Kiowa Chief Kicking Bird.

Milton Reynolds established the Edmond Sun  in a one-room building near Broadway and Second Street. The first issue appeared on July 18, 1889. Reynolds died on year later in 1890. This paper continues to be published  today. Reynolds would be proud of the legacy he began, having lived only one year following the first published issue.