The first issue of The Lincoln County News, published Feb. 13, 1919. After a one-week hiatus for the Damariscotta Herald and the Sheepscot Echo, Publisher Leon Gray introduced the new paper as a consolidation of the two previous periodicals. The Lincoln County News has been published every week since. This copy, as well as most of the LCNs archives, can be found online for subscribers at lcnme.com or viewed at Skidompha Library in Damariscotta.
At the start of each year, the volume number on the front of this newspaper increases by one. With this edition we enter volume 150, celebrating the start of a sesquicentennial of publication.
The story of how The Lincoln County News started goes back a bit further than the volume number indicates, dating back to 1854 when C.H. Paine started a small paper called the Lincoln Advertiser. From what we can gather, it was not published on a regular frequency, but was taken over in 1875 by Everett E. Dunbar and was put into regular publication in July of that year.
A little more than a year later, the name of the publication was changed to The Village Herald and Lincoln Record. The first issue – volume 1, number 1 – was published on Nov. 15, 1876, marking the start of the volume sequence we continue today. It was subsequently published by the Dunbar brothers every Wednesday.
Up until 1935, the volume was incremented around the time of year where the first issue was published, in November of each year. This changed in 1935 with the issue published on Jan. 3, incrementing the volume number and starting each year with number 1.
Today’s paper is the descendent of at least seven direct newspaper ancestors. Especially in the decades surrounding the turn of the 20th century, there was much consolidation of the local newspapers. After the Lincoln Advertiser became The Village Herald and Lincoln Record, it then was the Damariscotta Herald. The Pemaquid Messenger’s good will and subscription list were rolled into those papers in 1897 when the Herald was under the ownership of Jesse Ogier. In 1891, a paper called the Lilliputian was brought into The Sheepscot Echo, which was owned by Leon Gray.
In 1919, Gray purchased the Damariscotta Herald from George Singer, who had become the owner in 1898. It was under Gray’s brief ownership that the two papers merged together and the first issue of what you know as The Lincoln County News was published on Feb. 13, 1919.
The most prominent headline of that first issue read “Lincoln County News Makes Its First Bow” with the subhead “Four Papers in One — A Brief Sketch of Their Careers.” The name change coincided with edition number 16 of volume 43, keeping with the volume designation that started with The Village Herald and Lincoln Record.
The article began with an explanation of a week of missing papers.
“After an unavoidable hiatus of a week, The Lincoln County News steps forth upon the local newspaper stage,” the article said. “It is no small job to move an outfit such as comprised the Sheepscot Echo plant in and move the Herald outfit or most of it, out. Quite a bit of repairing in the building was necessary. The new Babcock press and folder weighs some 7-1/2 tons and reaches clear across the width of the press room. Two brick walls had to be erected in the cellar to hold up the machinery. Hardwood floors have been laid. The interior of the office has been completely rearranged. About all that remains unchanged is the personnel of the working force. Mr. Gray, who is now the owner of the plant, has retained all the Herald force in his employ.”
Unfortunately, Gray would only publish 37 editions of the newspaper before he disappeared overboard while preparing his yacht, the Nimrod, to be hauled out for the winter on Oct. 27, 1919 at the age of 45. His widow, Alice, took over publishing the newspaper for 14 months. She then sold it to Samuel Erskine, who published his first edition on Dec. 9, 1920 as issue number 7 of volume 45.
Erskine was the first of the Erskine/Roberts family to publish the newspaper.
Since then, 5,431 consecutive editions of The Lincoln County News has been published under five generations of publishers. As the LCN starts the 150th volume, the focus will remain on telling the stories of the community, working with local advertisers to promote their interests, and striving to deliver the news to the wonderful readers who pick up the paper each week. We look forward to carrying on the tradition of bringing you the LCN well into the future.
Thank you for the support over the years, this milestone would not exist without you. It is an honor to be part of this community.
The first issue of The Village Herald, number 1 of volume 1, dated Nov. 15, 1876, from which The Lincoln County News gets it volume numbers from. The name at the top indicates it was to a member of the Dunbar family. The Dunbar Brothers were the publishers of this paper. The full edition of The Village Herald, a weekly journal devoted to agriculture, news, and general literature, is available to read on The Lincoln County News archive, which can be accessed by subscribers at lcnme.com and at Skidompha Library in Damariscotta.
