Photo by Jim Richardson (The Denver Post)

McDill "Huck" Boyd (1907-1987) was a newspaper editor, publisher and politician who became involved in many community projects. He is pictured above in front of the bankrupt Rock Island Railroad, which became the Kyle Railroad with his leadership. It now serves northwestern Kansas, Nebraska and eastern Colorado.

Who was Huck Boyd?

The Center is named for Huck Boyd, a Kansas newspaperman, politician, and businessman. He believed in the power and importance of community media. A one-time student at K-State, Boyd was unable to finish his education because of economic problems and instead returned home to Phillipsburg, Kan., where he carried out his family's legacy of publishing the Phillips County Review. A strong believer in helping small communities survive and prosper, he was concerned not only with media, but with issues such as health care and business preservation.

Boyd died in 1987, but his legacy is alive and strong. In honor of Boyd's work and devotion to the state of Kansas, the Huck Boyd Foundation opened a community center in Phillipsburg dedicated to his memory. The Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media is a partner with the Foundation and the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development in Manhattan, Kan.

Huck Boyd's descendants




Huck Boyd's
newspaper career


Huck Boyd's
political influence

Page last updated on December 8, 2004