An undated photograph of the Millersburg Sentinel office on Market Street, Millersburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The three individuals are not identified.
An undated photo of Hay W. Bowman, who worked at the Millersburg Sentinel under his father Frank S. Bowman from the time of the Sentinel‘s founding in 1884. He purchased the Sentinel in 1895 and was owner/publisher until his death in April 1946.
Both of the above photos were included in the final edition of Upper Dauphin Sentinel, August 31, 2021.
The following chronology was also published in the final edition:
- 1884 – The first issue of the Millersburg Sentinel was published Friday, June 27, 1884. The newspaper was founded by Frank S. Bowman and operated out of a small building where the Millersburg Loyal Order of the Moose now stands on Market Street.
- 1895 – Ownership of the newspaper passed to Hay W. Bowman, Frank’s son. Hay had been involved since the newspaper’s founding. During his years of ownership, Hay purchased the property at 344 Market Street, Millersburg and mover the operation into it. He also purchased a linotype machine, the first such typesetting machine between Harrisburg and Sunbury. Some people bartered for subscriptions during Hay’s ownership, he sometimes received fruits and vegetables in exchange for the newspaper.
- 1918 – Hay W. Bowman purchased the competition. The Millersburg Herald was merged into the Millersburg Sentinel. The Herald had been published by J. B. Seal about one-half block away from the Sentinel on Market Street. The two papers often took opposite sides on issues, and the war of words entertained many readers. Clarion A. Heckert came to the Sentinel with the purchase of the Herald. He was the linotype operator and performed other duties. F. Park “Shorty” Campbell already was working for the Sentinel when Heckert came on board.
- 1922 – Alfred B. Chubb joined the Sentinel staff while in high school.
- 1946 – Hay W. Bowman died in April. He gave ownership of the paper to his three faithful employees: Clarion A. Heckert, F. Park “Shorty” Campbell, and Alfred B. Chubb.
- 1967 – Ben Kocher joined the newspaper’s staff right out of college. Some of his early assignments included reporting on Millersburg Borough Council and the Millersburg Fire Company.
- 1970 – The partnership between Heckert, Campbell and Chubb lasted until the sale of the paper to Kocher. At the time, the newspaper covered mostly Millersburg and Halifax and averaged 10 pages per week.
- 1971 – Kocher purchased the Elizabethville Echo and Williamstown Times, December 1, 1971, from John B. Ralph.
- 1972 – The Upper Dauphin Sentinel was established in January 1972, combining all three papers and serving northern Dauphin, southern Northumberland and western Schuylkill counties. The combined circulation was about 6,000 and the paper grew to about 30 pages per week. The June 30, 1972, issue was the only edition that was never published. Hurricane Agnes caused major flooding throughout the state. The Sentinel was being printed at the Milton Standard during this time period. The Standard’s facility was damaged in the flooding , and its pressmen could not print the Sentinel.
- 1973 – The day of publication was switched from Friday to Wednesday with the February 28, 1973, issue.
- 1978 – The Upper Dauphin Sentinel operation moved to 510 Union Street, former home of Susquehanna Lutheran Home.
- 1979 – A reconditioned Goss Community four unit press was purchased from Rockwell Company. After about eight years of being printed in Milton, the newspaper once again was printed in Millersburg.
- 1984 – By the newspaper’s centennial mark, it had about 5,100 subscribers and 2,700 copies sold at stores throughout the area.
- 1988 – The day of publication was switched from Wednesday to Tuesday, starting with the August 9, 1988 issue.
- 1989 – The Sentinel‘s largest issue ever was published April 18, 1989. It had six sections and 70 pages. Duane Good joined the paper as editor July 5, 1989.
- Late 1980s to Early 1990s – The newspaper’s circulation peaked during these years with more than 9,000 copies being printed each week.
- 2010 – The layout of the paper went to a completely digitized format with the September 8, 2010, issue.
- 2018 – Printing of the newspaper moved to Advance Publications, Harrisburg, allowing for four-color printing on all pages each week, starting with the March 27, 2018, issue.
- 2020 Global COVID-19 Pandemic Hits – The newspaper nearly suspended publication for a time in the early days and uncertainty of the global pandemic. However, with some quick thinking and an agile staff, the Sentinel never missed an issue.
- 2021 – The final issue of the newspaper was published August 31, 2021.
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Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.