The Macon Telegraph will celebrate its 200th anniversary on Sunday, Nov. 1 — a monumental milestone for a community institution founded in the days when the city was a frontier boomtown.
According to a press release from the Georgia Press Association, The Telegraph will mark the occasion with special features in the Sunday edition and free ice cream at Shuster’s Candy & Creamery on Sunday for the first 200 guests, from noon to 6 p.m.
This weekend also marks the launch of an ongoing commemoration, with special anniversary pages appearing in the Sunday edition each week over the next several months. The Telegraph will publish regular historical features, reprint classic columns from beloved writer Bill Boyd, and solicit community memories from readers and former employees.
The Telegraph’s third century of publication arrives as the nonprofit Georgia Trust for Local News nears completion of the newspaper’s transition from former owner McClatchy.
“It’s fitting that as we celebrate the 200th anniversary, we also celebrate the start of a new chapter for The Telegraph,” Cynthia DuBose, executive director of the Georgia Trust for Local News, said in the release “As we strengthen and reinvigorate this vital institution under nonprofit ownership, we look forward to engaging the community in the celebration of The Telegraph and the community history it preserves.”
Myron Bartlett began publishing The Macon Telegraph in 1826, back when 1,500 people lived in Macon. The weekly newspaper reported on cotton prices, politics and steamboat arrivals. On Nov. 1, 1826, Bartlett wrote in his inaugural “prospectus” that he would “not only disseminate useful information, but advocate fearlessly, THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE!” Daily publication began in 1860, just before the Civil War.
Peyton T. Anderson, Jr., who served as owner and publisher in the 1950s and 1960s, established The Telegraph’s reputation as a highly trusted community resource. Aptly, the Peyton Anderson Foundation funded the purchase of The Telegraph from McClatchy in July 2026, relocalizing the paper and enabling its shift to community-driven, nonprofit ownership.
“There is an incredible amount of rich history we have to share with readers,” Micah Johnston, editor of The Telegraph, said in the release. “We invite the community to join us in commemorating this milestone. Join us at Shuster’s and pick up Sunday’s issue as we explore and remember Macon’s past through the pages of The Telegraph.”
