The Daily News of Newburyport, Inn Street Office, ca 1900, courtesy of the Daily News of Newburyport (Detail)
Local Newburyport Newspapers
There were 35 newspapers between 1773 and 1854, the Newburyport Daily News was first published in 1887.
The Daily News of Newburyport, Inn Street Office, ca 1900, courtesy of the Daily News of Newburyport (Detail)
Local Newspapers
The Daily News of Newburyport has made a photograph available of the staff in front of their office around 1900 on Inn Street where their office was located. The photograph of Inn Street is courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection, it shows the office of the Morning Herald and Evening Leader.
Office of the Morning Herald and Evening Leader, The Snow Collection, The Museum of Old Newbury (Detail)
The Daily News of Newburyport, Inn Street Office, ca 1900, courtesy of the Daily News of Newburyport
Office of the Morning Herald and Evening Leader, The Snow Collection, The Museum of Old Newbury (Detail)
The Newburyport Herald
The first newspaper was published in 1773
The first issue of the Essex Journal and Merrimack Packet (1773-1775) was printed by Isaiah Thomas and Henry Walter Tinges on what was then King Street (now Federal) at the corner of Middle Street, across from what was the St. Louis de Gonzague church.
The Newburyport Herald began in 1797
The Newburyport Herald began in 1797 with the merger of two previous newspapers, William Barrett's Political Gazette and Angier March's Impartial Herald. Employees included abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and James Akin. The Boston Public Library has a copy of a letter to William Lloyd Garrison dated October 18, 1875 on the letterhead of the office of the Newburyport Herald, then at 42 State Street.
Letter from Joseph May, Newburyport, Mass, to William Lloyd Garrison, Page 1, October 18, 1875, Boston Public Library
Letter from Joseph May, Newburyport, Mass, to William Lloyd Garrison, Page 2, October 18, 1875, Boston Public Library
There were 35 newspapers published between 1773 and 1854
Of the 35 newspapers published in the city between 1773 and 1854, many did not last for more than a year. In some years, more than one newspaper appeared, suggesting a need for different points of view to be expressed.
The Daily News of Newburyport was first published in 1887
The Daily News of Newburyport began as an independent daily in 1887, it included the Herald as part of its masthead until it was dropped by Phillip S. Weld in 1952, when he acquired it and The Gloucester Times. The Daily News exists as Newburyport’s local paper today.
Examples of how language has changed over the years
Letters to the Editor
People have been writing Letters to the Editor for a long time. Included are quotes from the Newburyport Herald in 1808 complaining about The Embargo of 1807-1809 (The Embargo is on the interactive history map). And one of the things that a history of the local newspapers shows is how language has changed over the centuries. “Our wharves have now the stillness of the grave – indeed nothing flourishes on them but vegetation,” is from The Newburyport Herald, July 15, 1808. A headline from the Newburyport Daily News, December 14, 1917 is included, “Police Claim to Have Evidence That Will Reveal Name of the Slayer of Two” (the sensational story of murder in 1917 and Antonio Szczepanek is on the interactive history map under the Newburyport Court House where the trial took place). The language from 1808 and from 1917 is very different than the way we write and speak today.
Four of the editors of local Newburyport newspapers
From “History of Newburyport Newspaper,” by Russell Leigh Jackson, from the Essex Institute Historical Collections, Vol. LXXXVIII, April 1952, courtesy of The Daily News of Newburyport.
Isaiah Thomas, Founder of the Essex Journal and “Father of the Press in Newburyport”
Edmund March Blunt, 1770-1862, Editor and owner of the Impartial Herald
The Honorable William H. Huse, 1823-1888, Editor and owner of the Newburyport Herald
Nathan Noyes Withington, 1828-1914, Editor of The Newburyport Herald
References
“Newburyport’s history, told through newspapers,” by Bill Plante, Newburyport Daily News, September 27, 2013 https://www.newburyportnews.com/opinion/newburyport-s-history-told-through-newspapers/article_c7c355c8-7925-515b-aee5-ac8c84e42009.html
Independent Digital News & Media Limited, London
Library of Congress
Wikipedia
Check Out The Interactive History Map
More information about Newburyport and its history can be found on the interactive history map, “Newburyport – Keeping the Story Alive.”
Solve The Local Newburyport Newspapers Puzzle
Press the icon to play the puzzle on a full screen or tap here to expand the image.