To help mark our 225th anniversary, the Gazette has created this "Over the Centuries" section to showcase the region's history.
We include a digital copy of our bicentennial edition published in 1986.
Founded Sept. 6, 1786, the Gazette is the oldest, continuously published newspaper in Massachusetts.
The writing in the section is lively and informative. It covers not only the first 200 years of the newspaper, but offers snapshots of the major events in our communities during that time. We hope you enjoy it.
We'll also post here additional stories and commentary from our 225th as well as articles and material of historical interest from the pages of the Gazette.
In the future we'll add links to other historical sites in the Pioneer Valley and invite contributions from historical groups and community members.
We welcome suggestions for content in this section.
-- Jim Foudy, Publisher
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
NORTHAMPTON — Two hundred and twenty-five years ago today, on Sept. 6, 1786, a 22-year-old named William Butler cranked up a printing press in Northampton and let it run. Under a masthead that read "The Hampshire Gazette" and directly below a headline that said "To the Public," Butler - the first editor of the newspaper you hold in your hands today and, by extension, of GazetteNET.com - addressed his readers. For 225 years, the Gazette, one of the country's oldest newspapers, has chronicled life in Hampshire and southern Franklin counties - or, to borrow Butler's words, has tried to keep the local citizenry from sinking into indolence.
• Related column: Information age doesn't change newspaper's role
• Editorial: 225 years and a day
• Click here for The Valley Over the Centuries section
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
NORTHAMPTON - The Gazette today marks the 225th anniversary of its founding on Sept. 6, 1786. It is the oldest, continuously published newspaper in Massachusetts and among the oldest in the country.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Editor's Note: This is the letter to the community by William Butler, which appeared in the first edition of the Hampshire Gazette in 1786. Butler, a 22-year-old printer, came from Hartford with his press to start the newspaper in Northampton.
Northampton, Sept. 6, 1786
To the Public.
By the advice and encouragement of a number of Gentlemen in this County, the Subscriber has established a Printing Office in Northampton, where printing of all kinds usual in America will be performed with care and dispatch.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Today we change numbers on our front page to Vol. 226, Issue 1. It means that with Tuesday's edition, the Daily Hampshire Gazette is a full 225 years old and remains one of the oldest continually published newspapers in the United States.
