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The Blowing Rocket is a weekly newspaper in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, United States.

History

The newspaper was created as a tabloid by state Senator Columbus Vance Henkel, Jr., in June 1932. During the 1930s and 1940s it was a seasonal newspaper, published only during the months of June, July and August. Each summer a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism was hired to edit the Rocket.

In the 1950s the Rocket switched to broadsheet format and a year-round publication schedule. In 1956 the Rocket was acquired by Rivers Printing Company, which owned the Watauga Democrat in Boone.

Today the Rocket is part of Jones Media's High Country Media group, which includes the Watauga Democrat, The Avery Journal and the Mountain Times.

The Blowing Rocket has the distinction of being the last newspaper affiliated with the National Press Association to charge 10 cents for an individual copy. The Epitaph in Tombstone, Arizona raised its price from 10 cents to 25 cents in 1982, shortly before the Rocket took the same step.

In 2002, the Rocket had a paid circulation of 3,530. As of December 1, 2019, the newspaper had a circulation of 591.

See also

• List of newspapers published in North Carolina

References

1. ^ "About". Blowing Rocket.
2. "Western North Carolina Circulation Map" (PDF). Adams Publishing Group. 2021-05-01. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
3. "NC Newspapers by circulation". Park Library. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
4. "Regional Maps and Circulation (High Country)" (PDF). Adams Publishing Group. 2019-12-01. Retrieved 2023-04-08.

External links

• A History of Local Media in the Watauga Democrat's 2005 supplement, A Place Called Home
• The Watauga Democrat
• The Blowing Rocket
• The Avery Journal
• The Mountain Times
• Jones Media Publications

• Weekly newspapers published in North Carolina
• Watauga County, North Carolina
• 1932 establishments in North Carolina