The Athens Messenger is a multi-media news organization and commercial printing facility that serves Athens County, Ohio and parts of the surrounding seven counties in southeastern Ohio.
Established in 1848, The Athens Messenger became a daily publication in 1904 and is published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The Athens Messenger launched its electronic edition, www.athensmessenger.com, in 2003. The Messenger was purchased by Adams Publishing Group in Minneapolis, MN in March 2014 and is the regional production hub for all APG Media of Ohio newspapers – the Circleville Herald, The News Watchman (Waverly), the Perry County Tribune, The Courier (Jackson and Vinton counties) and Logan Daily News.
Our news coverage encompasses the entire region and all communities within Athens County, the Ohio University and Hocking College campuses and our sports writers cover recreational sports, Ohio University, the Southern Ohio Copperheads, the Tri-Valley Conference and Southeastern Ohio Athletic League which includes 14 area high schools.
The Athens Messenger and its employees are involved in various community events and organizations including the Athens County Fair, Nelsonville Parade of the Hills, Kidfest, Boogie on the Bricks, Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, Meigs County Chamber of Commerce, Nelsonville Chamber of Commerce, O’Bleness Memorial Hospital Golf Tournament, Vinton County Chamber of Commerce, Vinton County Fair and Ohio University Athletics.
A note about our archives
Historians and genealogists looking for past issues of the Athens Messenger have several options.
Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to fulfill look-up requests, but we can hopefully point you in the right direction.
For articles and obituaries for the time period 2008 - present, check our website archives.
For articles and obituaries that published earlier, you have several options.
Ohio University's Alden Library on the Athens campus and the Ohio Historical Society Archives/Library in Columbus both have microfilmed copies of our newspaper.
You can use the Historical Society's Online Index to see which years are available in their microfilm room. Don't forget to check the index for publications that were produced in some of the smaller communities too. Many of those weekly papers are available on microfilm at the historical society. The link to the index is http://dbs.ohiohistory.org/newspaper/home.cfm.
For searchable digital archives, try www.newspaperarchive.com, www.ancestry.com and www.genealogybank.com. Those third party vendors have electronic editions of the Messenger for certain time periods that are searchable by name and keyword, not just edition date.
