120 Years of Newspapers and Editors
In Doon, Iowa
The first newspaper in Doon, The Lyon County Press, was claimed to be the first paper in Lyon County by its editor, L.B. Raymond. It was probably needed at that time as a medium for publishing legal matters and a brag circular for real estate agents to entice newcomers to the area.
With the floods, grasshoppers and the exodus to South Dakota in the eighties, everything was at a standstill in Doon until B.H. Perkins resumed publication of the Lyon County Press in 1889.
The early editors in the 1890's were a bit feisty and liked to spar with neighboring publishers. One such article was noted in the June 23, 1892, issue of the Lyon County Press as follows:
At the turn of the century the paper's title was changed to The Doon Press by its editors, the Hazlitt Brothers. The paper continued under that name until 1942 when editor Harold Stearns discontinued publishing and left for Inwood.
In the early thirties the paper had a difficult time surviving and the editor at that time, R.R. Thompson, made a plea for more advertising so as to keep the paper going. "Doon's oldest institution", he said, "must not die."
When editor Stearns left in 1942, the town was without a periodical through the World War 11 years until Henry Kuiper published the "Doon Bargain Counter" in 1947. Soon after in 1948, Harold Aardema started printing of the Doon Reminder. Doon needed a paper badly and it served the needs of the community for news and advertising.
In 1964, editor Aardema resumed publication of the Doon Press. As of 1992, it is still flourishing and has a wide circulation throughout N.W. Iowa and the United States.
Following is a fairly complete list of editors, titles of papers and years of publication:
1872-L.B. Raymond, Lyon County Press
1889-1892- B.H. Perkins, Lyon County Press
1893-1896-F.A. & C.P. Scott, Lyon County Press
1896-1899-F.A. Scott, Lyon County Press
1899-1907-Hazlitt Brothers, Doon Press
1907-1914-Max and Fitzgerald, Doon Press
1915-1922--Chalmers & Van Citters, Doon Press
1922-1924--Van Citters, Doon Press
1925-1932--Joseph Spinden, Doon Press
1933-1942--Harold Stears, Doon Press
1942-1947--No Paper
1947--Henry Kuiper, Doon Barbain Counter
1948-1964--Harold Aardems, Doon Reminder
1964--Present–Harold Aardema, Doon Press