Mountain Statesman

Mountain StatesmanType| Thrice-weekly newspaper

|

Format| Broadsheet
Owner(s)| NCWV Media
Publisher| Nicki Skinner
Founded| 1870[1]
Headquarters| 914 West Main St Grafton, Taylor County, WV 26354
Circulation| 1,710 (as of 2016)[2]
Website| mountainstatesman.com

The Mountain Statesman is a thrice-weekly newspaper serving the Grafton, West Virginia area.[3] Its 2016 circulation was 1,710.[4]

## History

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The Statesman began its life as the Grafton Sentinel, a publication that was only weeks old when editor and publisher James W. Holt took it over in 1870.[1] Holt, a 21 year old who had previously worked at the Preston County Journal, went through a series of partners but, aside from a short period of divestment from the paper in 1875, remained editor and publisher of the paper until 1893,[5] and returned to the management of the paper after a short tenure as the county's postmaster.[5]

As a staunchly Republican paper in a majority Democratic county, Holt's publication found surprising success. In 1903 Holt introduced the Daily Sentinel, an eight-page six column evening paper, to serve the growing city of Grafton.[1][6] Holt continued as publisher and editor until three years before his death, handing control of the paper to his son Howard H. Holt in 1915.[7][8] The younger son in turn passed it to his son, James F. Holt, on his death in 1936. James left the paper in 1948, selling it to Joseph Abey, a Pennsylvania publisher, after deciding to embark on a career in law.[8]

In 1946, at the age of just 20, Eldora Nuzum became editor of the Sentinel. At the time of her death, multiple local sources identified her as the first female editor of a daily newspaper in West Virginia.[9]

In the 1960s, the paper (and one of its reporters) were known for the Grafton monster sighting.[10]

In 1975 the Sentinel ceased its daily publication schedule, changed its name to the Mountain Statesman, and moved to the three times a week schedule it uses today.[11] The newspaper was bought by News Media Corporation in the early 1970s.[12] The company sold the newspaper in 2022 to NCWV Media.[13]

## Resources

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* List of newspapers in West Virginia

## References

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1. ^ a b c Men of West Virginia ... Biographical publishing Company. 1903.
2. ^ 2016 West Virginia Press Association Newspaper Directory (PDF). West Virginia Press Association. 2016.
3. ^ "Newspapers Currently Received in the West Virginia Archives and History Library" (PDF). West Virginia Division of Culture and History. State of West Virginia. December 2016.
4. ^ 2016 West Virginia Press Association Newspaper Directory (PDF). West Virginia Press Association. 2016.
5. ^ a b Murphy, Robert E. (1905). Progressive West Virginians. Wheeling News. p. 291. "James W. Holt Grafton Sentinel Kingwood."
6. ^ "Items". The Weekly Register. March 25, 1903.
7. ^ "James W. Holt Dies". The Fairmont West Virginian. January 16, 1918.
8. ^ a b "Reading Man Buys Grafton Sentinel". Cumberland Evening Times. November 17, 1948.
9. ^ Associated Press (August 24, 2004). "Longtime editor dies at 78 Nuzum was first woman to serve as editor for daily W.Va. newspaper". Charleston Daily Mail.
10. ^ Coleman, Loren (December 1, 2001). Mothman and Other Curious Encounters. Cosimo, Inc. ISBN 9781616406110.
11. ^ Taylor County. Arcadia Publishing. 2000. ISBN 9780738505886.
12. ^ "Fire damages Grafton newspaper office office". Charleston Gazette. September 5, 2000.
13. ^ Smith, Don (December 1, 2022). "WV News purchases Buckhannon-based Record Delta and Grafton-based Mountain Statesman". West Virginia Press Association. Retrieved September 14, 2024.