Holt County Independent

The Frontier and Holt County Independent History

Current Publisher Terry Miles became the sole owner June 6, 2018 of the oldest continuous business in O'Neill — The Frontier and Holt County Independent.

The Holt County Independent was first published in 1888 in O'Neill making it 130 years old. In 1965 the only two remaining newspapers in O'Neill —The Frontier and Holt County Independent — merged.

The first Miles to own the newspaper was George A. Miles of Ainsworth. He purchased it in January 1904. George ran the newspaper until his death in 1937. His sons Gerald and Fay Miles took control of the paper and ran the newspaper until Fay's death in 1956.

Gerald and his sons Robert "Bob" and George "Shorty" Miles then published the newspaper. Upon Gerald's death in 1971, Shorty and Bob ran the business until 1985 when Shorty bought out his brother Bob.

Shorty and his sons Tom and Terry ran the paper until Shorty's death in 2006. On June 6, 2018 Terry bought out his brother Tom.

Terry is the fourth generation Miles to own the newspaper.