COGenBlog

Recently the Library of Congress made available digital copies of newspaper directories published by George P. Rowell & Co., and N. W. Ayer and Sons.

In the 1869 directory, Colorado is shown to have eleven newspapers, with the Rocky Mountain Herald claiming the largest circulation - 5,000 weekly. The Rocky Mountain News claimed 500 daily and 1,500 weekly subscribers. By 1881 there were over a hundred newspapers; in the early 1900s there were over 400. Then in 1916 the number started going down.

The directories give different information for different years. There is often a summary for the each state; for instance, the 1888 directory gives the number of Democrat, Republican, Greenback, and Prohibitionist voters, as well as a description of the population, geography, manufacturing and agricultural products (p. 605). Each county also has a brief description, as well as each newspaper. That year the Pioneer Press was listed as being published in Akron, Washington County, beginning in 1886. It was 24 by 35 inches, and four pages long. It was edited by D. W. Irwin, and a subscription cost $2.00 (p. 45).

The following table shows the directories available, and provides a link to the first page of Colorado’s listing for each year: