Longtime reporter Charlotte Boynton forwarded an email to me this week in which she was thanked by someone doing historical work on Wiscasset’s Sunken Garden.
Charlotte wrote a story in 2013 (for Wiscasset Newspaper, to be precise) that recounted details of the Hilton House fire in 1903.
There would be no Sunken Garden in Wiscasset without the Hilton House as it is the basement of that former structure.
In the introduction, Charlotte wrote, “Former editor of the Washington Post, Philip Graham, once called newspapers the first rough draft of history.”
Among the many reasons we at The Lincoln County News do what we do, the role of being your newspaper of record is at the top. That’s why we include such a variety of news items, from high school basketball games to chicken barbecues to car crashes and home fires to ice cream socials.
News like this is important now because it’s part of the culture and experience of living in Lincoln County. It’s what’s happening along the main streets, at local businesses, in town offices, and to people who are neighbors, friends, and newcomers.
It will be important in the future, too, because it tells the stories of our times.
“Local newspapers historically tell the stories important to the community,” Charlotte wrote in 2013. That’s certainly true at The Lincoln County News.
And we hope her words ring true in the years to come and that the paper is just as “often used as a source of information for further generations.”
If you have news to share, please email info@lcnme.com.
