Mountain Statesman

The Statesman began its life as the Grafton Sentinel, a publication that was only weeks old when editor and publisher James W. Holt took it over in 1870.[1] Holt, a 21 year old who had previously worked at the Preston County Journal, went through a series of partners but, aside from a short period of divestment from the paper in 1875, remained editor and publisher of the paper until 1893,[5] and returned to the management of the paper after a short tenure as the county's postmaster.[5]

As a staunchly Republican paper in a majority Democratic county, Holt's publication found surprising success. In 1903 Holt introduced the Daily Sentinel, an eight-page six column evening paper, to serve the growing city of Grafton.[1][6] Holt continued as publisher and editor until three years before his death, handing control of the paper to his son Howard H. Holt in 1915.[7][8] The younger son in turn passed it to his son, James F. Holt, on his death in 1936. James left the paper in 1948, selling it to Joseph Abey, a Pennsylvania publisher, after deciding to embark on a career in law.[8]

In 1946, at the age of just 20, Eldora Nuzum became editor of the Sentinel. At the time of her death, multiple local sources identified her as the first female editor of a daily newspaper in West Virginia.[9]

In the 1960s, the paper (and one of its reporters) were known for the Grafton Monster sighting.[10]

In 1975 the Sentinel ceased its daily publication schedule, changed its name to the Mountain Statesman, and moved to the three times a week schedule it uses today.[11]

It is owned by News Media Corporation, which bought the paper in the early 1970s.[12]

• List of newspapers in West Virginia