On Aug. 15, The Courier, which started as the voice of a bold experiment in 1894, turns 130 years old. From chronicling the dreams of Fairhope's earliest settlers to capturing the heartbeat of a growing community, The Courier has been there through it all.

The Fairhope Courier, a publication with roots in Des Moines, Iowa, was born out of the ambitions of 13 reformers who gathered on Jan. 4, 1894, to discuss creating a cooperative colony under the banner of the Fairhope Industrial Association. According to the Fairhope Museum of History, among them was Alf Wooster, publisher of the Liberty Bell newspaper, which initially championed the views of the Farmer's Alliance and Knights of Labor. Following that meeting, Wooster repurposed Liberty Bell to advocate for the cooperative colony movement.

The shift was swift. On Jan. 10, 1894, the newly focused Liberty Bell published its first issue under its new mission. This publication served as the voice of the Fairhope Industrial Association until Aug. 10, when the group decided it was time for a dedicated paper. Five days later, on Aug. 15, 1894, the first issue of The Fairhope Courier rolled off the presses.

"On Aug. 15, the first issue of this new paper, The Fairhope Courier, was published in Des Moines, Iowa, with Association Secretary E.B. Gaston serving as the editor," according to the Fairhope Museum of History.

In November 1894, the Fairhope Industrial Association and the Gaston family relocated to Baldwin County to establish the single-tax colony of Fairhope. Along with them came The Fairhope Courier, which reemerged in Mobile with its Dec. 1, 1894, issue, distributed from the Battles post office. E.B. Gaston continued as the editor, with the exception of a brief period between October 1895 and January 1896.

By 1897, however, the fledgling colony was struggling to fund the publication. Determined to keep the paper alive, Gaston offered to cover its costs for six months at his own expense. When the financial burden persisted, he proposed buying the publication materials from the Association. They agreed, and by January 1899, Gaston had become the publisher of The Fairhope Courier, a role he would hold until his death in 1937.

"At that point, The Fairhope Courier continued publication through the Gaston estate, with his daughter Frances Gaston Crawford as editor, son Dr. C.A. Gaston as associate editor and son Arthur "Spider" Gaston as business manager," the Fairhope Museum of History records.

According to the museum, the family managed the paper until 1963, when they sold it to the newly formed Eastern Shore Publishing Company, marking the end of an era as the Gaston family retired from the newspaper business.

Today, The Courier stands as a testament to the vision and perseverance of E.B. Gaston and the Fairhope Industrial Association, chronicling the growth of a community that started as an idealistic experiment and blossomed into a lasting legacy.

Today, The Courier is owned by Gulf Coast Media, which also publishes The Baldwin Times (serving all of Baldwin County), The Onlooker (serving Foley, central and north Baldwin) and The Islander (serving Orange Beach and Gulf Shores). GCM was purchased by brothers Jack, Kyle and Graham Osteen as part of OPC News LLC in 2014. The company split in 2021, with Jack and Kyle retaining ownership while adding GCM Publisher Vince Johnson as a partner. All four papers can be read online at www.gulfcoastmedia.com.

For those eager to dive deeper into the storied past of The Courier, the Fairhope Museum of History offers a dedicated exhibit that brings the newspaper's history to life. Visitors can explore the history, photographs and more, all celebrating 130 years of journalistic legacy. To plan your visit, check out the Museum on Facebook, or contact the museum at (251) 929-1471 for more information. The museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and admission is free.

Additionally, more scans of original issues of The Courier can be viewed at the Fairhope Single Tax Corporation Archives Online or The Baldwin County Archives.