Railroad builder gave Parsons its name, and from the city The Sun Rose
Number one, volume one of The Sun appeared on June 17, 1871, as a weekly newspaper. Milton W. Reynolds and Leslie J. Perry were its joint editors and proprietors.
Having been founded the same year, the history of The Sun and the city of Parsons are closely related, anchoring around the Katy (Missouri-Kansas-Texas) Railroad. Parsons got its name from Levi G. Parsons, builder of the Katy and a nephew of the first J.P. Morgan.
With the Sept. 5, 1880, edition The Sun became a daily morning paper and in 1903 the publication time was changed to afternoon when it began printing news from the Associated Press Morse Service.
In 1914, Clyde M. Reed purchased controlling interest in the Sun and remained its publisher until his death in 1949. Lester Combs became secretary-manager in 1919 and served in that capacity until his death in 1942. The Sun was owned jointly by the two families when Clyde M. Reed Jr., the youngest of seven children in his family and the only one interested in journalism, borrowed funds in 1953 to purchase the interests of his brothers and sisters and that of the Combs estate.
While the elder Reed became governor and then a United States senator for 10 years, the younger Reed also ran for governor (but was defeated), served on the Kansas Board of Regents and served presidential appointments to federal commissions.
After 68 years of controlling interest by the Reeds, the Parsons Sun was sold to Harris Enterprises of Hutchinson in 1982 and has maintained the reputation it gained under the father and son as an outspoken newspaper and an important Southeast Kansas voice.
Harris president Bruce Buchanan served as editor and publisher of the Sun from 1985 until 1990 and was succeeded by Ann Charles. Darren Werth became the Sun's editor and publisher upon Charles' retirement in 2007.
The paper was sold to Kansas Newspapers L.L.C. in 2008 and then sold to the current owner Montgomery County Media, LLC in 2023.
Today the Parsons Sun has moved into the next level of technology by introducing a digital version available on the internet at www.parsonssun.com.
The week of June 20, 2023, the Sun moved to twice-a-week publication. The newspaper is printed on Monday and Thursday nights and distributed by mail and in news racks on Tuesdays and Fridays.
