The Quoddy Tides is a community newspaper published in Eastport, Maine covering several communities in Washington County, Maine and Charlotte County, New Brunswick. It styles itself the "most easterly published newspaper in the United States".[2] It is published on the second and fourth Friday of each month. The first issue was published on November 29, 1968.
| "The Most Easterly Published Newspaper in the US" | |
 | |
| Type | Biweekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Founder(s) | Winifred B. French |
| Publisher | Edward French |
| Editor | Edward French |
| Founded | November 1968 |
| Language | American English |
| Headquarters | 123 Water St., Eastport, Maine |
| City | Eastport, Maine |
| Country | United States |
| Circulation | c. 5000[1] |
| ISSN | 1521-1266 |
| OCLC number | 34001716 |
| Website | quoddytides |
| Free online archives | qdy |
Its coverage area includes Eastport, Calais, Lubec, Machias, and other communities.[3]
History
editThe Quoddy Tides was founded by Winifred B. French, who moved to Eastport in 1955 with her husband, a physician, and their family. After the closure of local newspapers[3] in Eastport and nearby Lubec in the 1950s and 1960s[citation needed], she saw a need for a community news outlet. After a year spent researching the newspaper business,[3] she launched The Quoddy Tides with its first issue on November 29,[citation needed] 1968.[3]
The newspaper covered communities in "the region touched by the tides of Passamaquoddy Bay" on both sides of the border between Canada and the United States.[4] For several years the paper's typesetting and paste up were done on the Canadian island of Deer Island. The copy, advertisements and other newspaper contents, and the finished paste ups, were taken from Eastport to Deer Island and back by seasonal ferry in the summer or by fishing boat in the winter.[2]
The first edition of The Quoddy Tides appeared late. A note on the paper's front page explained that the editor (Winifred French) "had a car accident taking copy to the printer in Blue Hill and now has a broken nose and black and blue eyes".[5] Since the first issue, the paper has never been late publishing.[6]
Winifred French was named Maine Journalist of the Year in 1979.[4] In 2018 she was inducted into the Maine Press Association Hall of Fame.[6]
Winifred French died in 1995 and was succeeded as publisher and editor by her son Edward French.[2]
Circulation
editAs of August 2017, circulation was about 5000.[1] In 2019 The Quoddy Tides had subscribers in every American state except South Dakota.[3] In 2024 it had at least one subscriber in every other state.[7]
Publication
editThe newspaper is owned by Edward French and his siblings.[6] As of 2016 it had six full time staff as well as free lance correspondents in the communities covered, for a total of about 30 contributors.[2] The area covered includes "Eastport, Pleasant Point, Perry, Pembroke, Robbinston, Charlotte, Dennysville, Whiting, Lubec, Campobello, Deer Island, Grand Manan and some coverage (and circulation) in Calais and Machias."[1] The newspaper, which has a biweekly dateline, is printed each 2nd and 4th Friday each month and is available on newsstands throughout the Passamaquoddy Bay region. Print subscriptions are mailed nationwide and fully searchable digital archives are available. The paper is printed on the press of The Ellsworth American.[8]
The newspaper is owned by a family. James Fallows, in The Atlantic, wrote that the family ownership means that the newspaper is not subject to commercial pressures that fractured other local newspapers. Fallows added that the newspaper's coverage of other towns means that it gets more subscribers.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Advertising and other rates and payment policies for the Quoddy Tides (effective August 15 2017)" (PDF). The Quoddy Tides. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Groening, Tom (September 22, 2016). "Quoddy Tides chronicles maritime community". The Working Waterfront. Rockland, ME.
- ^ a b c d e f Fallows, James (August 30, 2019). ""Local, local, local": How a small newspaper survives". The Atlantic.
- ^ a b Cleaves, Herb (November 28, 1983). "Fifteenth anniversary open house is held by the Quoddy Tides". Bangor Daily News. Bangor, Maine. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "We're late". The Quoddy Tides. November 29, 1968. p. 1.
- ^ a b c Coopersmith, Susan (July 13, 2018). "Quoddy Tides marks 50th anniversary". The Quoddy Tides. Eastport, Maine. p. 10.
- ^ Saks, Nora (March 2024). "The Enduring Legacy of the Quoddy Tides, the Most Easterly Published Newspaper in the U.S." Down East. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
- ^ French, Edward (November 28, 2003). "The Quoddy Tides hits 35". Quoddy Opinion. The Quoddy Tides. p. 4. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
