Old copies of our Washington County Post newspaper are online at Fulton History. This PDF explains how to search.
Background: A gentleman in Fulton NY started a website years ago to display postcards of his hometown. He soon expanded to include old Fulton newspapers. Then he added an online search capability. As his popularity grew, other communities asked if he could scan their old newspapers. Today, his website has over 50 million newspaper pages from the U.S. and Canada.
Our local newspaper started in Salem on January 1, 1798, first as the Northern Centennial, later Northern Post, and finally the Washington County Post. When the paper’s owner ran into financial difficulties in 1848, Robert Young purchased it and moved it to the Aaron Crosby store in North White Creek (the East End of Cambridge).
Young issued the first number on March 15, 1849 with North White Creek, not Cambridge, listed on the masthead. Until its last edition around 1990 the masthead proclaimed it was the oldest weekly newspaper in America.
In the 1990’s old copies of the Washington County Post were converted to microfilm. The Library and the Village Offices each had a microfilm reader and printer. In the 2000’s, the microfilm was sent to Fulton NY where the newspapers were loading onto the searchable website.
Tom Tryniski, the owner and operator of the website has an amazing data center that he maintains through donations. State and ancestry organizations use and reference Tom’s website extensively. As such, they make major financial contributions. However, individual contributions are also welcome. Consider making a donation if you find the site useful.