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Chronicling America
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Newspaper Windham County Observer (Putnam, Conn.) 1900-1962 Windham County shopper / Windham County observer-shopper

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About Windham County Observer (Putnam, Conn.) 1900-1962

In 1900, Nathan Waldo Kennedy combined the Weekly Observer (Dayville) and the Windham County Standard to start the Windham County Observer, a weekly newspaper that was published in Putnam, Connecticut, from 1900 to 1962. Starting in the early 1800s and lasting into the mid-1900s, eastern Connecticut was an important site for the United States textile industry. Putnam was home to one of the earliest cotton factories built in the U.S., the Pomfret Manufacturing Company, which opened in 1806, and the town later became one of eastern Connecticut's main textile manufacturing towns, home to numerous cotton, wool, and silk mills.

In 1909, the Observer passed to Horace F. Wilder, a newspaper editor from Marlborough, Massachusetts. Wilder sold the paper two years later to George L. Padgett and Henry C. Meinken, both from New York City. In 1929, the Observer was purchased by Walter N. King, a longtime Putnam resident who had been employed by a local textile company prior to his acquiring the Observer. King published the Observer for close to 20 years, until 1946, when he sold the paper to Stanley R. Evans and Muriel Evans.

Published on Wednesdays, the Observer billed itself as "a weekly family newspaper" and focused mainly on local news and notes from Putnam and neighboring communities in Windham County. The newspaper was politically independent, and editorial commentary was sporadic over its early years, with increased editorials about local issues starting in the 1930s. During the nationwide textile workers' strike of 1934, when the Connecticut National Guard was called in to quell violence that had broken out in Putnam because of the strike, the Observer printed a front-page editorial in its September 12, 1934 issue calling on all citizens to "aid in keeping peace, order."

Under the Evanses, the Observer adopted its own platform, focusing on local issues, such as veterans' rights and the need for new municipal buildings. The Observer received awards from the Connecticut Editorial Association, including one in 1948 for greatest improvement in the past year.

In 1962, the Evanses purchased the Putnam Patriot, a rival weekly newspaper in Putnam, and merged the two into the Windham County Observer, Putnam Patriot.

Provided By: Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Windham County Observer (Putnam, Conn.) 1900-1962

Other Title

  • Windham County shopper
  • Windham County observer-shopper

Dates of Publication

  • 1900-1962

Created / Published

  • Putnam, Conn. : Nathan W. Kennedy

Headings

  • -  Putnam (Conn.)--Newspapers
  • -  Windham County (Conn.)--Newspapers
  • -  Connecticut--Putnam
  • -  Connecticut--Windham County
  • -  United States--Connecticut--Windham--Putnam

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 19, no. 44 (Nov. 8, 1900)-v. 80, no. 17 (Apr. 25, 1962).
  • -  Includes section titled: Windham County shopper, Aug. 23, 1961-, and: Windham County observer-shopper, , with its own numbering.
  • -  Available on microfilm from Putnam Public Library, Putnam Conn.
  • -  Putnam patriot (Putnam, Conn. : 1872) (DLC)sn 84022396 (OCoLC)10386936
  • -  Windham County observer, Putnam patriot (DLC)sn 92051427

Medium

  • v.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn92051419

OCLC Number

  • 26687060

ISSN Number

  • 2997-562x

Preceding Titles

Succeeding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Windham County Observer Putnam, Conn. -1962. (Putnam, CT), Jan. 1 1900. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn92051419/.

APA citation style:

(1900, January 1) Windham County Observer Putnam, Conn. -1962. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn92051419/.

MLA citation style:

Windham County Observer Putnam, Conn. -1962. (Putnam, CT) 1 Jan. 1900. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn92051419/.