Estes Park Trail-Gazette

Last updated
Estes Park Trail-Gazette
TypeWeekly newspaper
Format Broadsheet
Owner(s) Prairie Mountain Publishing (MediaNews Group)
PublisherMichael Romero
EditorTyler Pialet
Founded1912
Headquarters251 Moraine Avenue
Estes Park, CO 80517
United States
Website EPTrail.com

The Trail-Gazette is a weekly newspaper in Estes Park, Colorado. It is published by Prairie Mountain Publishing, a unit of MediaNews Group.

Newspaper Scheduled publication containing news of events, articles, features, editorials, and advertising

A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.

Estes Park, Colorado Statutory Town in Colorado, United States

Estes Park is a statutory town in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. A popular summer resort and the location of the headquarters for Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park lies along the Big Thompson River. Estes Park had a population of 5,858 at the 2010 census. Landmarks include The Stanley Hotel and The Baldpate Inn. The town overlooks Lake Estes and Olympus Dam.

The Prairie Mountain Publishing Company is an American publishing company owned by Digital First Media. Former half owner Scripps left the partnership in 2009.

The Trail-Gazette covers local government, schools, sports, community events, entertainment, real estate, and Rocky Mountain National Park. Its coverage encompasses Estes Park and surrounding areas.

History

The Estes Park Trail began as a seasonal weekly magazine catering to the tourists who flocked to the Rockies from June through September. John Y. Munson, a retired farmer who lived in Berthoud, Colorado (perhaps a summer resident of Estes Park), was the first publisher (U.S. census, Berthoud, Larimer Co, Colorado, 1910, household 188). In 1912, he made suggestions for improvements such as village beautification, waste cans on Elkhorn Avenue and daily street cleaning (J.Y. Munson, "Editorial," Estes Park Trail vol. 1 no. 13, p. 1). Those suggestions branded the publication as a community newspaper from its inception.

By 1914, the Estes Park Trail had grown to 42 illustrated pages of travel articles, poetry, area news, columns about visitors, the occasional pithy editorial (often about the Business Men's Association), and advertisements. The Trail chronicled the early twentieth-century development of Estes Park, providing insights into early Colorado tourism and Rocky Mountain National Park.

Rocky Mountain National Park national park of the United States

Rocky Mountain National Park is an American national park located approximately 76 mi (122 km) northwest of Denver International Airport in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is situated between the towns of Estes Park to the east and Grand Lake to the west. The eastern and western slopes of the Continental Divide run directly through the center of the park with the headwaters of the Colorado River located in the park's northwestern region. The main features of the park include mountains, alpine lakes and a wide variety of wildlife within various climates and environments, from wooded forests to mountain tundra.

In 1921, with the backing of businessmen who wanted a job printer in Estes Park, Arthur B. Harris became the editor and publisher of the Estes Park Trail, which was thereafter produced locally. He published the weekly paper from April into December, and remained the editor as late as 1930 (U.S. census, Estes Park, Larimer Co, Colorado, 1910, household 52).

Thus the early seasonal tourist magazine evolved into a year-round community newspaper which became today's Trail-Gazette.

Some issues of the Estes Park Trail for 1914-1924 are preserved in the digital collections of Colorado Historic Newspapers online.

Official website

Colorado Historic Newspapers online, http://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/

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