The Gray family that now owns the Sylva Herald has operated the Jackson County paper since just after World War II, when J.A. Gray and a partner purchased it in 1945.

“That’s when my grandfather came back from the service,” said current Herald and Ruralite president Steve Gray.

J.A. Gray bought his partner out in 1950 to become sole owner of the paper. J.A. Gray was publisher of the Sylva Herald and Ruralite until his passing in 1963, at which time his widow took the reins until her death in 1985. Jim Gray, J.A.’s son and Steve’s father, then became sole publisher. Steve Gray assumed the position of president and CEO in 2003 and became publisher in 2006.

It was on the job training for both of the latter Grays. Jim Gray was hand-setting type at age 6, and Steve Gray said he remembers spending his Wednesday afternoons as a boy selling hot-off-the-press editions of The Sylva Herald and Ruralite up and down the streets of Sylva.

The Sylva Herald and Ruralite moved into its current location on West Main in 1950. Prior to that the paper operated out of the old Lyric Theater. In 1997 The Sylva Herald and Ruralite expanded to include the old McGuire building next door.

Steve Gray said that much of his time at The Sylva Herald is spent attending to the daily logistics of managing the busy commercial printing division of the Herald, which compliments the award-wining newspaper. Gray said that while he keeps abreast of the newsroom, he is fortunate to have a very capable and talented editorial and news staff that doesn’t need much oversight.

The Sylva Herald and Ruralite has proven fertile ground for Western North Carolina journalists and writers. Two of the mountains’ favorite storytellers and historians, John Parris and Bob Terrell, both began their careers at the paper. Lynn Hotaling, current editor at the Herald, has recently authored two historical accounts of the region, Sylva (2008) and Jackson County Then and Now (2009).

Steve Gray, who served two terms as mayor of Webster and more than three decades as a volunteer with the Jackson County Rescue Squad, is proud of The Sylva Herald and Ruralite’s community commitment.

“At least 95 percent of our focus is on the people and happenings of Sylva and northern Jackson County,” Gray said. “We don’t expect that to change any over the next 80 years. We will continue covering Jackson County, continue doing what the community has come to expect from us.”

The history of the Sylva Herald and Ruralite

• Everett E. Brown started The Ruralite in 1926. Brown passed away only six years later, but his wife, Attie May Bridges Brown continued to head the paper until 1943.

• W. Curtis Russ, owner of the Waynesville Mountaineer purchased the Ruralite in 1943 and the name was changed to the Sylva Herald and Ruralite.

• The Gray family became part owners of the Sylva Herald and Ruralite in 1945 when Steve Gray’s grandfather, J.A. Gray and a partner, J.M. Bird, purchased the paper. J.A. Gray bought his partner out in 1950 to become sole owner of the paper.

• J.A. Gray was publisher of the Sylva Herald and Ruralite until his passing in 1963 at which time his widow took the reins until her death in 1985. Jim Gray, J.A.’s son and Steve’s father, then became sole publisher. Steve Gray assumed the position of president and CEO in 2003 and became publisher in 2006.