The first edition of The Chatham Record the library owns on microfilm is the one seen below from March 6, 1879 (click on the image if you’d like to see a larger version):
As you can see, our collection is lacking the first 24 issues of the paper. Still and all, 133 years worth of newspapers is no small resource for anyone interested in the history of Pittsboro, its environs, and its depiction in its local media.
This particular issue, like many from the late 1800s, offers a somewhat bizarre amalgam of fiction, poetry, editorial opinion, advertising, and even the occasional news item. Not many news outlets today would choose to run a poem lamenting the plight of orphaned children on their front page! The exposé on impurities in foods, just under the banner, is more like what you might expect to find in a contemporary newspaper.
If you are interested in learning more about Pittsboro’s history, the changing nature of news media over the decades, or other local, historical matters, please drop by the Chatham Community Library!
