Press on
Newspapers were key to county development
BY SANDRA THURLOW
Martin County’s lucky stars lined up when illness brought Edwin Menninger to the St. Lucie River Region, changing its journalistic future forever.
Newspapers were already circulating before Menninger’s arrival. Will Hawley Stevens began publishing Stuart’s first newspaper, The Stuart Times, on April 18, 1913. When local businessmen boycotted The Stuart Times, they brought in The Stuart Messenger, published by the owners of the Fort Pierce Times Tribune. For a while, Stuart had two newspapers but, by March 1917, the Fort Pierce interests absorbed The Stuart Times.
E. R. Clyma, who was hired to publish The Stuart Messenger, ended up purchasing it in February 1922. Clyma immediately retired after bringing in his sons, Carleton and Ramen, to manage and edit the paper.