The Titusville Herald, Crawford County's oldest newspaper, closes

Keith Gushard, The Meadville Tribune, Pa.
·1 min read

Nov. 5—TITUSVILLE — The Titusville Herald, Crawford County's oldest newspaper, has closed.

"The Titusville Herald says goodbye, and thank you" is the headline on the front page of today's edition — the paper's last.

The paper, established on June 14, 1865, was the first daily newspaper in the Pennsylvania Oil Region. It began more than 157 years ago as The Titusville Morning Herald.

In recent years, it had been a five-day-per week publication, printing Tuesday through Saturday.

"The owners of The Titusville Herald regret the decision we had to make today," the front page statement issued by the newspaper said.

"We are afraid that we have to close the Herald's doors and this is the last issue of the paper that has been published since 1865."

"The Herald's longtime publisher, Mike Sample, passed away on January 3rd of this year," the statement continued. "Mike's life was The Titusville Herald, he worked every aspect of the newspaper from fixing copiers to delivering papers when needed.

"His family desperately wanted to keep the paper going, but it has become evident that they cannot.

"This newspaper has been a long serving member of this community since 1865 and no one is sadder about this than we are.

"Thank you to the Titusville community and all of our readers for the support, trust, and even criticism over these long years," the statement concluded. "The Herald will be issuing refunds to subscribers, but asks your patience during our transition."

The statement said the paper will handle subscription refunds as soon as it can.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.