Olton Enterprise ceased publication with June 25 edition

OLTON – The Olton Enterprise published its last edition June 25, 96 years after L.L. Kyle started the paper and 14 years after publishers Phillip and Ursula Hamilton rescued the publication from an even earlier demise.
The Hamiltons announced June 4 the newspaper was for sale but they were unable to find a buyer by the end of the month.
First printed on Thursday, Feb. 18, 1926 by Kyle, the Enterprise was the oldest continually operating business in Olton and believed to be the oldest business in Lamb County.
Kyle died only four years after establishing the newspaper, and in 1930 his widow sold it to R.A. Rogers of Plainview. However, during the Depression, the newspaper’s ownership reverted back to the Kyle family. In 1937, Kyle’s daughter Mary Kyle Smith and her husband Bill Smith took over the newspaper. During World War II when Bill Smith was serving in the military, the newspaper was leased to B.M. Nelson, who would later serve as publisher of the Castro County News.
In 1952, the Enterprise was purchased by Royce L. Vernon and F.L. Burrow, who both sold out to Troy Martin over the next two years. Bill Turner purchased the Enterprise in 1960 and built it into one of the best small town newspapers in the state and country. In 1965, the National Editorial Association (now known as the National Newspaper Association) named the Enterprise the Best Small Weekly in the Nation.
Sue Cannon, an employee hired by Turner in 1964, purchased the enterprise in 1972 and served as publisher until her retirement in 2002. She also started the Hart Beat and the Kress Chronicle. After serving as publisher for 30 years, Cannon sold the newspaper to Chris and Joye Bradford of Dimmitt, who had purchased the Castro County News a year earlier.
The Enterprise met its first local competition in April 2006, when the Olton Community News opened for what would turn out to be a 59-issue run.
Under the name CJB Publications Inc., Chris Bradford published the Enterprise until Aug. 1, 2006, when Jim Moser of Moser Community Media LLC announced a limited partnership with Debbie Aylesworth of Canyon and Glenn Rea of Cuero had purchased the Muleshoe Journal and Olton Enterprise.
In June 2007, Martin Hernandez, who owned the Community News, purchased the Enterprise from the partnership and merged the two newspapers. Just months later, the Hamiltons purchased the Enterprise from Hernandez. At the time, Phillip Hamilton was managing editor of the Paris News. Having started his professional newspaper career in Plainview and served as a reporter, bureau chief, regional editor and editorial columnist at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal before going to the Paris News, Hamilton was very familiar with the Olton community.
Hamilton said the Olton community did their part — turning in news, buying advertising and subscribing — and the
Enterprise staff continued to do its part by publishing out the best newspaper possible. However, social media products such as  Facebook took a toll. Readership continued to drop while postage, printing and other production costs edged upward.
“There is a reason and a season for everything,” Hamilton said. “We tried to find a buyer, but in this new media age, no one wants to own a newspaper. We understand that. We made the decision to close at the beginning of the new year, but we decided to keep going until the end of June to complete our coverage of spring school activities and graduation.”
Ursula Hamilton now works full-time at Runningwater Draw Care Center. Phillip Hamilton plans to represent a Plainview-based radio group and do freelance reporting, advertising and public relations under the Triple S Media name.