''The Saguache Crescent'' (pronounced ) is a weekly newspaper published in

Saguache, Colorado Saguache (suh-WATCH ) is a Statutory Town in and the county seat of Saguache County, Colorado, United States. The population was 493 at the U.S. Census 2010. History Saguache is a small historical village in an agricultural area in southern Co ...

, notable for continuing to use a Linotype to produce each issue long after most newspapers have adopted electronic production methods.

Founding

The initial newspaper was started by

Otto Mears Otto Mears (May 3, 1840 – June 24, 1931) was a famous Colorado railroad builder and entrepreneur who played a major role in the early development of southwestern Colorado. Mears was known as the "Pathfinder of the San Juans" because of hi ...

, who arrived in Saguache in 1867. The site had been long known to Native Americans and Spanish shepherds, but the discovery of gold and silver in the nearby mountains—the

Sangre de Cristo Range , country= United States , subdivision1= Colorado , subdivision2_type= Counties , subdivision2= , parent= Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Rocky Mountains , borders_on= , geology= , age= , orogeny= Fault-block mountains , area_mi2= 1 ...

to the east and the

San Juan Mountains The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...

to the west—brought a flood of new settlers to the area. Mears recognized the need for a reliable source of food and other essentials, and he constructed a

threshing machine A threshing machine or a thresher is a piece of farm equipment that threshes grain, that is, it removes the seeds from the stalks and husks. It does so by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out. Before such machines were developed, threshi ...

and a

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

for threshing and grinding wheat to make flour for Saguache and the surrounding mining camps. Soon Saguache became a booming supply town, and in 1874 Mears published its first newspaper, ''The Saguache Chronicle'', to attract new pioneers to the area. Following several name changes, the paper took its present name, ''The Saguache Crescent''.

Present day

Linotype machine in Rupriikki Media Museum

Publisher Dean Coombs is the paper's entire staff. ''The Saguache Crescent'' was purchased by the Coombs family in 1917, and it has been in the family for three generations. It still uses a 1921

linotype machine The Linotype machine ( ) is a "line casting" machine used in printing; manufactured and sold by the former Mergenthaler Linotype Company and related It was a hot metal typesetting system that cast lines of metal type for individual uses. Lin ...

to set the print, and a 1921 printing press. It features a decorative masthead, no photos, sells for 35 cents a copy, and publishes "all the good news fit to print"; Coombs refuses to print bad news. He says that his mother set that policy and it is non-negotiable. The only task that Coombs does not handle himself is that of reporter; Saguache residents bring the news to him: "If you bring it, and it's not just absolute insanity, and you want to sign your name to it, then I'll generally print it" he says. Coombs must function as repairman as well; as old machines come up for sale he buys them to keep on hand for spare parts. Saguache is the Saguache County

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

and the ''Crescent'' is the official

newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and include some of the o ...

for Saguache County. With only about 550 residents, the paper does not generate much income from commercial advertising; Coombs says that income from the county's paid

legal notice Notice is the legal concept describing a requirement that a party be aware of legal process affecting their rights, obligations or duties. There are several types of notice: public notice (or legal notice), actual notice, constructive notice Ser ...

s is all that keeps the paper afloat. In 2013, newspaper historian Michael S. Sweeney, a professor in the

E. W. Scripps School of Journalism The E. W. Scripps School of Journalism is part of the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University. Founded in 1924, the school has been recognized by The Associated Press and U.S. News & World Report for excellence in instruction and re ...

, said he knew of no other newspaper still using linotype. ''

CBS News Sunday Morning ''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (normally shortened to ''Sunday Morning'' on the program itself since 2009) is an American news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published ...

'' a visited to ''The Saguache Crescent'' in 2014. Coombs said the ''Crescent'' was the only newspaper in the U.S., and perhaps even the world, still using Linotype. However, a weekly newspaper based in Vervins, France, , continues to use a Linotype as part of its production. ''The Saguache Crescent'' is still active . Coombs says that he is not training anyone to take over the paper, so his retirement will be the end of an era.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saguache Crescent, The 1867 establishments in Colorado Territory Newspapers published in Colorado Newspapers established in 1867 Weekly newspapers published in the United States