the Alva Advocate and, on June 5, 1985, the Newsgram. The paper's name can be traced back to the 1890s. A weekly publication called the Alva Courier was published in Alva, Oklahoma, beginning in 1896 (The First 100 Years of Alva, Oklahoma states it dates back to January 21, 1897). It published from January 13, 1899, to January 23, 1903. An Alva Weekly Courier published from January 30, 1903, to January 24, 1908, and then merged with the Alva Review to become the Alva Review Courier on January 31, 1908. The Alva Review had been published from July 7, 1894, through February 6, 1908. A Alva Review Courier was published from February 13, 1908, to December 31, 1914. Three other papers are worth mentioning. An Alva Weekly News was merged with the Dacoma Herald, to become the Woods County News, which published from June 20, 1968, to May 25, 1989. Other Woods County publications The Alva Daily Pioneer began June 24, 1901, was published from July 25, 1903, through April 9, 1906. "Alva Pioneer" – Alva, OK, weekly, September 22, 1893, through July 9, 1897; merged with "Alva Republican" into "Alva Pioneer Republican." It was the first newspaper in Alva, Woods County, Oklahoma Territory, September 1893; W. F. Hatfield started gathering news, selling subscriptions with the assistance of Oscar Haberlein who worked at the Kiowa News in Kansas. The "Pioneer" was printed in Hazelton, Kansas, brought to Alva, O.T. and delivered to subscribers for the first 6 weeks. After that it was housed in the second story of the first two-story building (20x40 feet) built by Hatfield, around October 1893, to house his press. The "Pioneer" was the oldest, daily Democratic paper in Woods County. It was published for 10 years in its two-story location and grew from a weekly to a daily paper. Downstairs below the "Pioneer" printing office was located a restaurant opened by G. W. Drake and his wife from the Hazelton, Kansas, area. "Alva Republican" – Alva, OK, weekly, purchased February 9, 1894, by James Kelley and J. I. Parcell, the first republican newspaper in Alva, O.T.; publication dates February 23, 1894, through July 2, 1897; merged with "Alva Pioneer" into "Alva Pioneer Republican." "Alva Pioneer Republican" – Alva, OK, weekly, July 16, 1897, through December 24, 1897. "Alva Pioneer" – Alva, OK, weekly, December 31, 1897, through August 16, 1901. "Alva Weekly Pioneer" – Alva,