We started the year off with an explanation, brief history, and the significance of changing the volume number to 150. We are indeed proud to have reached this milestone, although our roots go back a bit further in time.
The Lincoln County News draws its pedigree from a paper started in 1854 by C.H. Paine called the Lincoln Advertiser, but it was only published at a frequency when there was enough advertising to make printing it worthwhile. It was not until July of 1875, under the ownership of E.E. Dunbar, that the newspaper became a regular publication.
The editorial published on page 2 of Dunar’s first edition offered the purpose of the new status of the paper: “We do not deem it necessary, nor do we think it wholly out of place to say a few words to introduce the Advertiser as a regular publication … We shall give our advertising patrons all that can be offered by circulation and attractive advertisements, while at the same time we shall endeavor to interest the general public by presenting to them through our columns, so far as we are able, matters of interest and importance to the people of our village and county.
“We are aware that our paper is small but we shall endeavor to make up in quality what we lack in quantity; therefore keeping in view as a motto: Multum in Parvo, we submit our effort to the public.”
A little more than a year after turning the newspaper into a regular publication, the name was changed to The Village Herald and Lincoln Record, and Vol. 1, No. 1 was published on Nov. 15, 1876 by the Dunbar brothers, Edward E. and Kendall M.
Another introductory note in this first edition read: “It is useless for us under the caption to indulge in lengthy promises, for we are aware that the editor of a newspaper must do as well as say in order to achieve success.
“The fact that the twin village(s) of Damariscotta and Newcastle occupy a highly important and conspicuous position in the social and business interests of Lincoln County – a position in truth second to none and one that increases yearly in wealth and population, may be mentioned as one inducement that led us to offer the Village Herald and Lincoln Record to the public …
“Another special feature of the Herald and Record will be the local and county news. We have intelligent correspondents in every town and village in the county, who will keep our readers informed of every interesting and important event that transpires in their respective localities.”
The first 44 years of the newspaper saw many changes, with ownership changing from the Dunbar Brothers to Jesse Ogier, to George Singer, to Leon Gray, to Alice Gray, and then to Samuel Erskine. During this time the name changed several times to the Damariscotta Herald and Record, to the Damariscotta Herald, and then to The Lincoln County News in 1919.
During this stretch, the goodwill and subscription list of the Pemaquid Messenger of Bristol was added to the paper and the Damariscotta Herald and Sheepscot Echo were consolidated into The Lincoln County News. This last name change stuck, and has been at the top of this paper since it began on Feb. 13, 1919.
It was a little more than a year after the final name change the Erskine-Roberts family picked up the mantle of being the stewards for the fledgling newspaper. This first issue is also the start of continuous weekly publication.
We could go on about the history of the newspaper forever. To find some context as to what has changed in 150 years, we went to a new technology and asked the Google AI search feature about the 10 biggest changes since 1876.
The summary included the rise of digital technology and the internet; world wars and geopolitical realignment; advances in medicine and public health; a population boom and the shift from rural agrarian societies to urban industrialized ones; women’s rights and changing gender roles; civil rights and decolonization movements; nuclear technology and the atomic age; internal combustion engine and mass transportation; space exploration; and environmental awareness.
Looking back on these subjects, it is jaw dropping to think that through all these worldwide, national, and societal changes, some things stay consistent.
Throughout a century and a half, two world wars, the birth and widespread adoption of the automobile, dramatic political and cultural changes, putting a man on the moon, and the rise of digital technology and the internet, this newspaper has been here reporting on the community.
Although the Dunbar brothers did not want to indulge in lengthy promises back in 1876, the same focus on local and county news expressed back then lives on today. While this may be a bit lengthier than the initial introductions, we remain so far as we are able committed to covering the matters of interest and importance to the people of our community and county.
Thank you for the support over the past century and a half. We are looking forward to the next.
