The exhibit was created with the help of the Post-Journal’s long-time Publisher Mike Bird, retired Editor Cristi Herbst and content from historian Helen Ebersole’s book An ImPRESSsive Record, Jamestown Journal 1826-1941.

The exhibit tells the story of local newspaper traditions starting with the first issue of the Jamestown Journal in June 1826 through the current Post-Journal and Chautauqua Gazette. While Jamestown had more than 25 papers since 1826, few lasted more than a decade. The exhibit is told through images, video, and small and large artifacts that represent our publishing history.

“We would love to collect the community’s stories about their interactions with the newspapers in Jamestown. We have a place set up at the “Editor’s Desk” for visitors to share their stories and memories. Did someone in their family work for the paper, or did they? Were they a “newsboy” or carrier? We want to collect those stories,” said Joni Blackman, exhibit curator and executive director.

Stories and memories can also be sent to stories@fentonhistorycenter.org. The exhibit is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through the end of October.

A typewriter is set up in the way a reporter’s desk may have looked before computers along with a Jamestown Sun paper tube and photos of a newspaper press room as part of the Fenton History Center’s new exhibit, Read All About It.

The Post-Journal was first published on June 21, 1826. It was known then as the Jamestown Journal. The paper made its debut as a semi-weekly, 56-column newspaper. Publisher Adolphus Fletcher printed the paper on the second floor of his shop. In 1870, the Jamestown Journal transitioned from a weekly publication to a daily publication – The Jamestown Daily Journal. In 1941, The Jamestown Daily Journal merged with the Morning Post to become the Jamestown Post-Journal, now The Post-Journal.

A news kiosk with information about Horace Greeley and information about the Jamestown Journal is pictured at the Fenton History Center.