The first issue of the Evening Tribune of Pawtucket opened with a lot of questions on its front page: “How will the Mayor act?” and “Is it a fire fiend?: Seven mysterious fires in the past few weeks.” The editors were looking to intrigue readers in the bustling mill city just north of Providence. The price was one cent a copy or three dollars for one year.

The newspaper was announced by the editor with great fanfare: “With this issue the Evening Tribune is launched upon the journalistic sea. It is manned by a fearless, unprejudiced crew, who will at all times endeavor to keep it headed sharply toward the harbor of justice. From the beginning the Tribune starts out owing allegiance to no party, no clique, no individual.”

The other goal of the newspaper was a local focus, and the editor announced that it would “make a special feature of local affairs, and will try to present them in a manner interesting to the residents of Pawtucket and vicinity.” From marriage and removal notices to the latest buzz on the streets, the news was local to Pawtucket, Central Falls, and the entire Blackstone Valley. There was a dedicated column called “Events up the Valley.”

From September 1890 to September 1891, the title was changed to the Pawtucket Tribune. The price was one cent, and Martin Murray was listed as editor and proprietor. The headlines were still sensationalist, focusing on crimes, especially murders. The title soon returned to the Evening Tribune again. Political cartoons appeared at this time along with more social columns and sports coverage.

From 1897 through 1898, the title ran as the Pawtucket Evening Tribune but still referred to itself as the Evening Tribune in copy. New technologies and the latest news were the selling points of the newspaper. The August 19, 1897 issue announced a new office at 24 East Avenue, a new press from the Cox Duplex Printing Press Co. of Battle Creek, Michigan, and a new Thorne typesetting machine. A headline read: “Latest news by wire from all over the world for readers of the Tribune.” The shortened Evening Tribune title reappeared on Feb 9, 1898, and ran through 1900. Although the title was altered many times, this family of newspapers always identified as the same publication, running “established in 1888” in the headline.

Newspaper The Evening Tribune (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190? Pawtucket evening tribune

HOLDING: Rhode Island Hist Soc Libr, Providence, RI

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