About Us

Community newspapers have always been the chroniclers of family lore, of scholastic achievements, municipal governance, and all of the other news that binds a community together. There is a basic covenant between a town and its newspaper — and whether it’s a local economic development story or a development in the public schools — the newspaper provides coverage people need.

Since 1856, The Corydon Democrat has been reporting the news of Southern Indiana. It has told the stories of Morgan’s Civil War raid on Corydon, the 1937 flood of the Ohio River, the opening of Interstate 64 and the pandemic of COVID-19.

But, more importantly, it has told the stories of the community.

From its founding by Simeon K. Wolfe, the newspaper has had a single goal: to connect people, events and communities. This connection comes in joining elected officials with the people they represent. It comes in sharing the stories of friends, families and neighbors. The connection is shown in the players and fans of a winning sport season. It’s in providing a forum for churches, schools, and other organizations to announce upcoming events in which the whole community can take part.

G.K Gwartney purchased the newspaper in 1888. Nineteen years later, he sold it to Lew M. O’Bannon, whose family not only owned the paper since 1907, but was intimately involved for much of that time, with O’Bannon’s great-grandson, Jon O’Bannon, serving as publisher starting in 2005. In between, several other O’Bannons — including Jon’s grandfather, Robert, and father, Frank, despite the time demands of serving in the Indiana legislature, with the latter also twice elected governor — were involved.

The newspaper was sold in 2022 to Paxton Media Group, which has its headquarters in Paducah, Kentucky.

The newspaper has won an unprecedented 16 Blue Ribbon awards, since the award’s inception in 1972, for being the best non-daily newspaper in the state from the Hoosier State Press Association Foundation. Judging is done by out-of-state newspapers.

Besides The Corydon Democrat, Paxton Media Group publishes a second newspaper, the Clarion News, which serves Crawford County as well as parts of Harrison, Floyd, Washington, Orange, Perry and Dubois counties. It is the result of the merger of the Clarion, The Crawford County Democrat and News-Messenger.

Paxton Media Group also owns and operates Corydon Instant Print, which is located on the northwest corner of the building where the newspapers are housed.

The Corydon Democrat
301 N. Capitol Ave.
Corydon, IN 47112
812.738.2211