A northeast Iowa weekly newspaper has ceased publication after its owners said they were unable to find a suitable buyer.

The Jesup Citizen Herald printed its final edition on Dec. 29, ending its 122-year existence, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported.

Publisher Kim Edward Adams, 68, who led the newspaper for its last 43 years, said he and his longtime news partner, Robin Harms, decided in recent years that they were ready to retire.

That decision came after Adams underwent eye surgery, leaving him unable to handle his previous workload, and Harms tired of laboring under what were often 12-hour workdays.

“At this age, I don’t have the energy anymore,” Adams said.

The pair agreed to either sell or shutter the newspaper by the end of 2021. They talked with four to six interested buyers, Adams said, but “most of them had no prior newspaper experience.”

The Citizen Herald is one of more than 100 newspapers nationwide to close since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, according to Poynter, which reports about 1,800 papers — mostly weeklies — have closed in the U.S. since 2004.

More: 3 Iowa newspapers disappear in a week. The pandemic threat is real for the industry, and for Iowans.

The Jesup paper’s website remains accessible and includes recent obituaries and a heartfelt, 1,300-word letter from Adams titled, “Saying Goodbye to Jesup.” But Adams said he has no intention of including past articles on the website and suggested that past publications could be found at the Jesup Public Library.

His company, Horizon Publishing Company, will continue operating two smaller newspapers, the Denver Forum weekly, which it owns, and the monthly Readlyn Chronicle, owned by the Readlyn Community Club.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Jesup Citizen Herald printed its final edition on Dec. 29,