North Canton Memory

The Sun

About the North Canton Sun

Brother and sister Eleanor Hall and Benjamin F. Long founded the Sun on November 1, 1922.  The original printshop was at 216 Cole Ave. SW.  Hall and Long believed in community news.  The daily happenings of North Canton, from speeding arrests to sporting events to the popular “Everybody’s Column” were part of the weekly fare.

In the mid-1920s, the subscription cost was $2.00 per year.

Vernon and Edna Sell purchased the Sun on July 1, 1938, housing it in a remodeled barn.  It moved to 502 South Main in 1948, and by that time included a job printing operation as well.

The Sells, originally from Niagara Falls, New York, were North Canton boosters.  Mrs. Sell and three reporters attended meetings, dinners, concerts and everything else that happened in town.  Both were active in civic organizations.  Under the Sells, 1,000 new subscriptions were added between 1938 and 1949, as North Canton grew into a more suburban area.
When the Sells retired in 1984, Bernie and Gwen Clements purchased the Sun, along with the Sun Printing Company.  They continued the paper's focus on local people, events and civic affairs.  The Sun was sold to the Stark County Journal in 1995 and became known as the Sun Journal.  The Sun Journal was subsequently sold to the Suarez Corporation before it ceased publication.

Sometime shortly before selling The Sun, Clements donated a collection of bound issues (1926-1993) and a roll of microfilmed issues (1922-1925) to the North Canton Public Library.  Concerned about the rapid deterioration of the papers, Library Director Karen Sonderman approached the then Heritage Society Director Patricia Dugan about preserving the papers.  In 2004, The North Canton Public Library and The North Canton Heritage Society formed a partnership to preserve and digitize these important pieces of North Canton history.  The digitized images of The Sun that can be viewed online are a result of this collaboration.

If you would like to donate to this project or future North Canton Memory projects please contact:

The North Canton Heritage Society
Phone:  (330) 494-4791
200 Charlotte Street NW, Suite 102
North Canton, OH  44720  		The North Canton Public Library
Phone:  (330) 499-4712
185 N. Main St.
North Canton, OH 44720