Renovo at 150 – The Renovo Newspapers
by Lou Bernard
RENOVO – When you think of newspapers in Renovo, the obvious thought is the Record. It’s the oldest newspaper in Clinton County, founded in December 1871 and still going strong. But, unexpectedly, there have been others. Some of them didn’t last very long, but they’ve existed—Renovo has been full of news.
Amusingly, I had to get some of my information on the Renovo papers from an old Lock Haven paper, the Clinton Democrat. The Democrat operated at 204 East Main Street, and as the name suggests, had some Democratic political leanings. Many of the papers did at the time; most of them had very open political views and did nothing to hide them. It often led to some conflict—Not exactly fistfights in the street, but battles in print that contained some snarky comments.
One of the Renovo papers was the Renovo Evening News, which was founded by John Dwyer and James Reilley in 1883. From the start, it was a little rocky, and management changed hands several times. By 1889, P.A. Kingsley was managing the paper. By the end of the year, M.J. Dillon bought out the paper, and then turned around and hired Kingsley as the editor. Kingsley was editing in March of 1890, when they celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day by printing an issue in green.
Kingsley had a habit of writing somewhat controversial editorials, and tried to create some solidarity with the Clinton Democrat by referring to it as “Brother.” He seemed to consider the papers to be kindred spirits, and often called the Democrat by that title.
The management of the Democrat had quite a different view on that. Now, the Clinton Democrat was not above taking potshots at other papers in the same way that my desk is not above the attic. On November 27, 1890, they ran a column called “Local Brevities,” which had bits and pieces of news and opinion, including their views on being brothers with the Evening News.
“We want the editor of the Renovo News to stop calling us ‘brother’,” the paragraph read bluntly. “The contemplation of such a relationship makes us feel sick at the stomach.”
There’s basically no misinterpreting that. No idea whether it worked or not—I haven’t been able to find very many old issues of the Evening News, and none of exactly the right time frame, so I can’t figure out whether Kingsley discontinued the “brother” thing.
At least the Renovo Evening News lasted for a while, finally closing down in April of 1917. You can’t say the same for the Renovo Herald, which only existed for five months. And still, somehow, managed to run afoul of the Clinton Democrat.
The Herald began in July 1890, and lasted until November of the same year, When it closed its doors, it was about the same time that the “brother” thing happened, and the Democrat ran a comment on it in the same column, on November 27, 1890.
“We regret to announce the demise of our little contemporary, the Renovo Herald, which, after a short existence, has given up the newspaporial ghost,” said the Democrat. “May it sleep peacefully in its premature grave.”
The Clinton Democrat was also apparently not above a little gloating. Also making up words like “newspaporial.”
Another one of Renovo’s local newspapers was the Renovo Daily Press, which somehow managed to be even shorter-lived than the Herald. Under the leadership of Edward Kirk, it began in January of 1893, and closed in mid March, having lasted all of two months. Not even long enough to inadvertently annoy the Clinton Democrat.
Out of all the newspapers, the Record remains. It’s the oldest continuously-running paper in the county, and still doing newspaporial things. Including running my articles, which I’m sure would irritate the Clinton Democrat. If it were still around.
