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Show Local Newspaper History Recalled As The Citizen Begins 29th Year With this issue of the American Fork Citizen, the publication begins its twenty-ninth volume and launches launch-es out on another year dedicated to fulfilling its slogan: "Devoted to the Building of North Utah County". The Citizen has a long history. Its twenty-eight years of existence outnumber the combined years of its six or more predecessors, and establish estab-lish the Citizen as one of the oldest weekly newspapers of the state. In connection with the newspaper's newspap-er's anniversary, a history of the newspapers published in this city has been compiled. According to the best information available: American loik Independent was established March 21. 1890. with J. F. Bledsoe and James McCoard as publishers. One copy of the Independent, Inde-pendent, published by the American Fork Independent Publishing Co.. McCoard & Riddell. is in the personal per-sonal file of A. F. Gaisford. Jr., Editor Edi-tor of the Citizen. Tins is the issue of June 13. 1890. which has four pages of six columns each, plus a two-page supplement, all home print. More space is devoted to advertising ad-vertising than to home news, and both news and advertising concerns mostly the mines in American Fork canyon. The paper was printed on an old Army press, it is said. On March 24. 1S90. the Provo Daily Enquirer commented that "The paper is small in dimensions but large in expectations". Later, the Enquirer noted another cham.e in the editorial management: "Dr. Ed. Isaacson, editor of the American Ameri-can Fork Independent, has bright hopes for the future of his paper, which was shortly issued twice a week," the Enquirer reported on May 3, 1890. Later references show that Mr. Heskel of Grand Junction purchased the Independent, taking charge about July 15, 1890. In 1891, John Pribyl is mentioned in other newspapers, as the editor of the Independent. In-dependent. In 1892, Mr. Pribyl moved the plant to Corinne. I'lah Republican was launched early in 1892. as a small publication of lour pages, with four columns to the page; it was issued on Fridays. Newman H. Mix was editor and publisher. pub-lisher. The American Fork Republican Repub-lican is given credit for an item in the Manti Times. August 6. 1892: and on September 24. 1892. the Spanish Fork Sun said: "The American Fork Republican sits down on the Lehi Banner, and styles it a rat en t Medicine". That is the last available information concerning the Republican. American Fork Item, was an eight-page, eight-page, four-column newspaper, issued on Saturdays, but the date of the first issue is not available. "The American Fork Item is the latest tiling in newspaperdom." says the Bingham Bulletin, on September 23. ! 1S93. It is an independent weekly, j published by M. L. Scott, It starts out without one 'ad' from the busi-; busi-; ness men of the town, to whom the J paper comes as a surprise, no patronage pat-ronage having been solicited. We trust American Fork's new paper will meet with more liberal patronage patron-age than the several which today lie in restless graves." The American Ameri-can Newspaper Directory of 1S96 shows: "Dunkley & Scott, editors (Continued on Page Three) |