The Catskill Mountain News was an American weekly newspaper serving the towns and surrounding environs of Margaretville, Andes, Roxbury and Delaware County, New York.[1] With a final circulation of 3,600,[1] it was both the oldest and the largest paper in the area, latterly available in print and on-line editions.[2] It was independently owned and operated until its last publication in 2020.[3]
| Type | Weekly Newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Joan Lawrence-Bauer |
| Editor | Joan Lawrence-Bauer. |
| Founded | 1863 |
| Ceased publication | January 22, 2020 |
| Headquarters | Arkville, New York, United States |
| Circulation | 3,600 copies |
| OCLC number | 8433945 |
| Website | www |
History edit
The News traces its roots to the founding of the Utilitarian in 1863.[1] The first newspaper in the town of Margaretville, the paper was published by Orson M. Allaben.[4][5] After passing through a number of hands it was purchased by the Catskill Mountain News.
In 1894, the Margaretville Messenger was founded by a stock company, which hired as editor John Grant.[4] It continued to 1902, when it was sold to W. E. Eells, who renamed it the Catskill Mountain News.[4] When Eells died suddenly, just two years later, Clarke Sanford, a local schoolteacher, approached his widow about the paper.[6][7] Eells's widow offered to let Sanford run it on credit. If he were to make a profit, he would pay her the purchase price; if not, she would reclaim the paper. Sanford agreed to the terms and after a tough initial few years made good on the loan.[6]
Sanford would run the paper for over 60 years,[6] presiding over the expansion of the newspaper. In 1918, he purchased the Utilitarian, altering the News's numbering to date back to that paper's 1863 founding.[4][8] He also invested in updated Linotype printing, and changed locations as the paper grew.[4]
The paper would be passed on to Clarke's son Roswell, on his death in 1964. In turn it was passed to Roswell's son Richard D. Sanford.[9] By 1990, the paper was struggling, which the younger Sanford believed was a result of low overall economic activity in New York's more rural areas.[9] Sanford noted that with shopping increasingly being concentrated in larger stores in more central cities, advertising in rural towns was less sustaining: "Stamford is about 25 miles out of Oneonta, and the growth of the Oneonta market has had a corresponding negative impact on the retail industry in Stamford."[9] He went on to note the future of the publication was a relentlessly local focus, and that of the weeklies he published Catskill Mountain News was the most robust.[9]
In 2017, the paper was sold to Joan Lawrence-Bauer,[8][10] a former writer for the News.[10]
The News ended publication in 2020.
References edit
- ^ a b c "Catskill Mountain News". Mondo Times. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ "Catskill Mountain News Subscriptions". Catskill Mountain News. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
- ^ "Contact Us". Catskill Mountain News.
- ^ a b c d e Faibisoff, Sylvia; Hillman, Linda (April 1973). "A Bibliography of Newspapers in Fourteen New York State Counties". New York History.
- ^ "Village of Margaretville". The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown.
- ^ a b c "60 Years a Newspaperman". The Oneonta Star. 2 May 1964. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ Riedinger, Joyce. "History and Stories of Margaretville and Surrounding Area". www.dcnyhistory.org. Retrieved 2018-10-07.
- ^ a b "History as it Happened: a tribute to Catskill Mountain News". The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown.
- ^ a b c d "Weeklies stay in black with community focus". Press and Sun-Bulletin. 3 September 1990. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ a b "Joan Lawrence-Bauer to become News owner". Catskill Mountain News. 14 September 2016.[permanent dead link]