The ''Placerville Mountain Democrat'' (known locally as the ''Mountain Democrat'' or simply the ''Democrat'') is the
newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
of
El Dorado County, California
El Dorado County (; ''El Dorado'', Spanish for "The Golden ne), officially the County of El Dorado, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 191,185. The county seat is Placerville. Th ...
, based in
Placerville and is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the State of
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
.
[
]
History
1800s
The ''Mountain Democrat'' began as ''The Argus'' with first editorial published on November 19, 1853, by its publisher, D.W. Gelwicks. ''The Argus'' was housed in the Crescent City Building in
Coloma, California
Coloma (Nisenan language, Nisenan: ''Cullumah'', meaning "beautiful") is a census-designated place in El Dorado County, California, United States. It is approximately northeast of Sacramento, California. Coloma is most noted for being the site ...
, then the county seat. In February 1854, Gelwicks bought the ''El Dorado Republican'' from Thomas Springer of Placerville and combined the two as the ''Mountain Democrat''. Its first issue date was February 25, 1854.
[
] During the 1850s, the newspaper reported news from steamships as they docked in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, after travel around
Cape Horn
Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...
– "usually about six months old. But it was new news in the mines." In 1889, the ''Weekly Observer'' merged with the ''Mountain Democrat''.
[
]
1900s
In 1922, the ''Mountain Democrat'' absorbed the ''Georgetown Gazette'' newspaper; in 1924, Mountain Publishing Company formed as owner of the ''Mountain Democrat''.[
] In 1935, the ''Placerville Republican'' merged with the ''Mountain Democrat''.[ In 1958, the ''Placerville Times'' merged with the ''Mountain Democrat''.][
]
Organization
Current owner is McNaughton Newspapers, Inc.; current publisher is Richard Esposito and most recent editor Krysten Kellum.[
]
See also
* List of the oldest newspapers
This list of the oldest newspapers sorts the newspapers of the world by the date of their first publication. The earliest newspapers date to Early modern Europe, 17th century Europe when printing, printed periodicals began rapidly to replace the ...
References
External links
*
Archive
Weekly newspapers published in California
El Dorado County, California
1851 establishments in California
{{California-newspaper-stub
Newspapers established in 1851