The Blowing Rocket

The newspaper was created as a tabloid by state Senator Columbus Vance Henkel, Jr., in June 1932.

During the 1930s and 1940s it was a seasonal newspaper, published only during the months of June, July and August.

Each summer a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism was hired to edit the Rocket.

In 1956 the Rocket was acquired by Rivers Printing Company, which owned the Watauga Democrat in Boone.

The Blowing Rocket has the distinction of being the last newspaper affiliated with the National Press Association to charge 10 cents for an individual copy.