Everything old is news again, a newspaper from 1876 is rediscovered in 1969. ©Michael Raphael/Telegram-Tribune
Even butter has a longer shelf life than news.
Unless it hangs around long enough to become history.
Then it becomes interesting again as this June 4, 1969 photo and story by Michael Raphael illustrates.
The Telegram-Tribune was about to celebrate its 100th birthday on August 7, of 1969.
Workers uncover 1876 Tribune
Workmen Tearing down an old residence at the corner of Pismo and Archer Streets Tuesday stopped long enough to sit down and read the Tribune.
The wanted to see what the news was in 1876.
T.L. Michaud and Glenn Strauser of Arroyo Grande were reducing the old home to salvage lumber when they came upon some inner walls that had been papered with copies of the weekly Tribune dated in late 1876.
The old residence, owned by A.D. Cody but not recently occupied, was built almost entirely of redwood, put together with square nails. The original walls had been supplemented in later years by an inner wall of lath and plaster.
The Centennial Year of 1876 is often referred to in county history as a year of much growth in the city, so this aged house may well have been part of the building activity of that year, the Tribune having been pasted to the redwood walls to provide insulation.
Across Pismo Street are the stone buildings of the old gas plant, built in 1902 and now used by A&P Salvage.
Cody said the old residence had been at 1405 Archer Street for about 70 years. It had originally been built at another location.
The Tribune in 1876 was being published each Saturday by H.S. Rembaugh, a printer, and O.F. Thornton, editor. Rembaugh had been with the paper since it was founded in 1869 by Walter Murray.
Many of the advertisements are still readable. Studabecker’s store on Morro Street offered such varied items as a 7-shot pistol for $5 and a “perfume stone” for 25 cents.
The Tribune and Telegram were brought under one ownership in 1925 and merged into one publication as the Telegram-Tribune in 1939.
Related posts:
