|
| Links |
 |
<< Previous 1 2 3
The Star Democrat - The Star Democrat 
Our Story: More than 200 years in the making
A rural land of agriculture and seafood, the Eastern Shore for years remained isolated from the large cities which grew to the west and north just 50 and 70 miles across the Chesapeake Bay.
With the building of the first Bay Bridge in 1952, however, the Shore has been inundated with beach lovers traveling to ocean resorts and wealthy residents who have built large estates along the rivers. But much of the rural tradition of farmers and watermen still exists along with a tradition of thriving, friendly small towns.
Kent Island was the first English settlement on Maryland soil. William Claiborne established a colony there almost three years before Lord Baltimore's colonists reached St. Clement's Island in the Ark and the Dove on March 25, 1634.
Tiny Centreville in Queen Anne's County boasts the oldest courthouse in continuous use in Maryland.
Neighboring Caroline County was settled in the 17th century by religious refugees, many of them Quakers from the north. Caroline was established in 1773 when the populations of Queen Anne's and Dorchester warranted the founding of another county.
Talbot County history began with English settlers in the 1650s. Tobacco was planted along the shores and Oxford, which was established in 1683, became a port of entry for English ships seeking tobacco in trade for the valuable English merchandise not available in the colonies. St. Michaels became a shipbuilding center and went on to produce the Baltimore Clipper ships. Today it celebrates its history with the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels. Talbot's county seat, Easton, was known as the east capital of Maryland because all the government offices were located there.
As Dickson J. Preston writes in a brief history of the county, Talbot "soon became the geographical and spiritual heartland" of the Eastern Shore. Here the great families which dominated Eastern Shore social, political and economic history--the Tilghmans, Lloyds, Goldsboroughs and their kinfolk--had their principal seats of residence, many of which are still standing today.
Closely intertwined with the history of these Mid-Shore counties is the history of The Star Democrat, which celebrated its 200th anniversary in 1999. It has been published during the administration of 42 of the 43 presidents of the United States and during all but one of the nation's major wars.
Its offices and equipment were destroyed by two fires. It was wrecked by a mob of vandals. One of its editors was arrested and exiled by Federal troops during the Civil War.
John Adams was President when The Star first appeared on the streets of Easton. The town already had one newspaper, the Maryland Herald , when Thomas Perrin Smith, a transplanted Virginian, opened The Star . The newspaper, for reasons not now clear, was called the Republican Star and the Eastern Shore Political Luminary , a name later dropped.
Eventually two other Talbot County newspapers-- The Easton Gazette in 1817 and the Eastern Shore Whig and People's Advocate --emerged.
The Whig prospered under its new editor, Edward Mullikin. It acquired the assets and subscriptions of The Star in 1832, when Thomas Perrin Smith died.
The Whig offices were destroyed by fire in 1841, but the newspaper resumed publication a month later under the new name, The Eastern Shore Star .
Thomas K. Robson, who would be editor for the next 40 years took over the newspaper in 1849 and renamed it The Easton Star.
A major fire which destroyed much of downtown Easton also destroyed the newspaper's offices and plant in March 1854. Robson resumed publication of The Easton Star a month later from a new plant on Goldsborough Street.
But is was the Civil War that gave Robson and The Easton Star more trouble. Because of his Southern sympathies, Robson was twice arrested by Federal troops. The second time, in May 1863, Robson was take by troops to Fort McHenry and from there to Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, where he continued to work for the Confederate cause.
The Star ceased publication until the war's end and Robson's return from exile. The Star reappeared on the street of Easton on Sept. 12, 1865.
Although it had a new Democratic rival, the Easton Journal , The Easton Star rapidly regained its stature under Robson who continued to be editor until his death in 1888.
In 1896, The Star merged with another local newspaper, The Democrat , to become the Easton Star-Democrat.
A group of leading Talbot County businessmen founded the Easton Publishing Co. in 1910 and purchased the Easton Star-Democrat . The new corporation's officers included: William Mason Shehan, president; William Reddie, vice-president; John W.D. Jump, secretary; T. Hughlett Henry, treasurer, and S. Elliott Shannahan, general manager.
Shannahan served as editor for the next 32 years. He also served the community in a variety of other posts, including secretary of the Episcopal Diocese of Easton, treasurer of Trinity Cathedral, a member of the State Aid and Charities, and organizer of the Easton Rotary Club, treasurer of the Talbot County Free Library, a member of the Board of Visitors and Governors of Washington College and a member of the board of the Children's Aid Society.
Shannahan died at his desk on Dec. 7, 1942.
Among his successors was Norman Harrington of Oxford, a writer, photographer, and Talbot County Community leader who was editor from about 1950 to 1964.
In 1948, Easton Publishing Co. moved its plant and offices to the old Bartlett Flour Mill, a large brick building on Hanson Street in downtown Easton. The building, now known as One Mill Place, was expanded three times.
In 1964, E. Ralph Hostetter, a Cecil County businessman, purchased the majority shares of the Easton Publishing Co. Editors during that time included Stephen Van Cleve and the late Hank Montgomery.
In August 1974, The Star-Democrat celebrated its 175th anniversary with a huge parade, an even larger fireworks display, a pet show, a bike race, and an anniversary edition. Publication of the newspaper also went from weekly to five days a week. The newspaper expanded its staff, increasing its coverage area from Talbot County to the Mid-Shore. The last editor of The Star-Democrat as a weekly publication was Greg Romain. The first editor of the daily was William Gregory.
The early daily contended with the problems of change, complaints from longtime readers who couldn't fathom why "they had to go and ruin a perfectly good weekly newspaper" and competition from the Mid-Shore edition of the Daily Banner of Cambridge. The Banner eventually closed its office in Easton.
In October 1976, The Star-Democrat and the other newspapers Hostetter and Rodney Smith published on the Eastern Shore and in Delaware as part of the Easton Publishing Company, were purchased and the Chesapeake Publishing Corporation was formed.
In the fall of 1987, the newspaper moved to new, larger quarters in the Airport Industrial Park, still in Easton.
In January 1982, Denise Perry was named the first woman editor of The Star Democrat . Now Denise Riley, she continues in that post today.
Larry Effingham was named publisher of The Star Democrat in 1988 and continues as publisher. He and Riley oversaw the launch of The Sunday Star in October 1988.
Since its conversion to daily publication in 1974, The Star Democrat has expanded its coverage area beyond Talbot County into Caroline, Queen Anne's, Dorchester and Kent counties. In that same period its circulation has grown from 7,000 daily to nearly 19,000.
In the early 1950s, The Star Democrat staff numbered approximately 20 people. Today the newspaper employs more than 220 people at Chesapeake's plant in Easton and at its four newspaper bureaus around the Mid-Shore.
In the second century of its publication, The Star Democrat progressed from hot lead to cold type production, from black and white photography to color, and from typewriters to computers and pagination. Looking to the future and even wider circulation, the newspaper launched its Internet edition on the World Wide Web in April 1996 with David Williams as the first online editor or webmaster. E. Chris Brezon became online editor in 1997. In March of 2001 Richard Polk assumed the position of online editor and webmaster. He had previously been editor of one of the Mid-Shore weeklies and systems manager for the Mid-Shore Division.
http://www.stardem.com/
Date:2007-09-10, Google PR:0 |
|
The Thurmont Dispatch - Newspaper of Thurmont, Maryland
Community Newspaper of Maryland. Read the latest news and feature articles about the historic town of Thurmont. Consisting of news, religion, obituaries, education, health, sports, entertainment, quilters, people stories, classified ads, and more. A Maryland Newspaper.
http://www.thurmontdispatch.com/
Date:2007-09-10, Google PR:0 |
|
<< Previous 1 2 3
|
|
| Legend |
|
Opens links in new window.
 Web sites that link back to Maryland Business & Services Directory - Free Business Listing .
|
Categories: 269, Links: 4,925, Pages: 9,762
|
