May 11, 1836 – Iowa’s first weekly newspaper is issued in Dubuque. This pioneer paper is edited by John King and named The Du Buque Visitor. Its folio line reads, “Truth our Guide. The Public Good Our Aim”.
Statistics show, for example, that between 1836 and 1860, 222 newspapers sprung up across the Hawkeye State, with most of them being small town weeklies! But, like it is with most small businesses, it’s one thing to open a business, but quite another keeping it going. The 1860 Iowa census reveals that only 104 of those 222 newspapers – less than half – were still being published, meaning 118 of those startups crashed and burned.
A Day-by-Day Calendar of Historical Events In Iowa, William J. Petersen, State Historical Society of Iowa, 1946, p 31
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