Hays Free Press celebrates 120 years and counting …

The Kyle News, the Austin Sun, the Onion Creek Free Press, the Hays County Citizen, the Hays County Free Press and The Free Press are all names Hays County residents may accurately associate with what is now known as the Hays Free Press.

It’s true. The Hays Free Press has been through many name iterations in its 120 years.

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T.F. Harwell (second from right), Turner Harwell (middle). Bob Barton and Moe Johnson purchased the Kyle News from Turner Harwell.[/caption]

When T.F. Harwell founded the Kyle News in 1903, it is not likely that he imagined what newspapers would look like in 2023, but here it is, going strong and still family-owned and operated.

In order to explain how the newspaper got to where it is today, it is necessary to go back to the early 1950s. Although there is surely rich history prior to that time, it has been passed on from generation to generation in only oral fashion, therefore it is tricky to nail down.

What is certain is that Bob Barton and Moe Johnson grew up as best friends in Buda. Following their time in the Army, they returned home and took a journalism class from what was then known as Southwest Texas State Teachers College and fell in love with the profession. In 1953, Moe and Bob purchased the newspaper from Turner Harwell, T.F.’s son.

However, it wasn’t smooth sailing from there. According to former co-owner and publisher Cyndy Slovak-Barton, the week the sale closed, one of the original employees of the company died.

But, you know what they say about having a few good friends … Together with their future wives, Gene Johnson and Wynette Barton, and a couple of friends, Donn Brooks and Pete Guttery, Bob and Moe took to learning everything they could about owning and publishing a newspaper.

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From left, Gene Brofka (dark room and photographer), Hilda Romo (typesetter while she was in high school), Pam Smith and Candace Blake (production) with her daughter Molly.[/caption]

At that time, the paper only covered Kyle news, but following Moe’s departure to work for Kyle High School and later Hays CISD, Bob began to expand the operation with the purchase of the Austin Sun. With this purchase, the paper began to cover Buda, in addition to Kyle, and moved its location north. Enter the Onion Creek Free Press.

Bob wasn’t done yet. In the late 1950s, he took a hiatus from the Onion Creek Free Press to change the Kyle News to the Hays County Citizen and began covering all of Hays County.

During this time, Slovak-Barton said that the Onion Creek Free Press changed hands “for a cigar” to multiple families who would run the paper in Bob’s absence.

In 1978, the Hays County Citizen ceased publication and subscribers of the publication, along with subscribers of the Onion Creek Free Press, were merged under The Free Press.

One call from the Detroit Free Press and the name was again changed to what everyone knows it as today — the Hays Free Press.

This is when the focus of the paper was designated to Hays CISD. At the time, no one was covering the school district and that is how the Hays Free Press found its place.

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From left, Jeff Barton, contractor Frank Hernandez, Bob Barton, Mr. McGehee, Marietta Fly Barton, Pete Guttery and Pete Stone cut the ribbon at the opening of the Hays Free Press office at Mountain City Station in 1987.[/caption]

Bob’s son, Jeff Barton, had a stint as publisher in the early 1980s and his wife, Slovak-Barton, took over in the early 1990s.

During these days, Slovak-Barton recalled she and Jeff living with their best friends that they met at Baylor University, Sheri Sellmeyer and Barry Kolar. At that time, the paper went to the press on Thursdays. On Thursday evenings, Jeff’s grandma, Marietta Fly Barton, would cook dinner for the friends and they would often fall asleep on the floor of her living room after a long day of work.

Even following Bob’s passing in 2013, Slovak-Barton stayed at the helm until the January 2022 sale to Something More Newspapers and the French family.

These days, you can find publisher Ashley French Kontnier working to carry on the legacy under the direction of her mom, and mentor, Tania French.

The Hays Free Press and the French family would like to thank the communities of Kyle, Buda, Mountain City, Manchaca, Hays County and more for their continued support. Newspapers, and businesses in general, don’t make it to 120 years without an outpouring of support from the communities they serve.

This is part 1 of the Hays Free Press’ Then & Now series celebrating its 120th anniversary. Follow along as we showcase advances in the life and times of residents and local businesses over the next several weeks.

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Bob Barton stands with the Hays County Citizen on the post office dock.[/caption]