Trenton Trentonian - Early History

Early History

For over a half-century, the Trentonian has been the voice of record for the former town of Trenton, Ontario and the current city of Quinte West and its surrounding communities. Founded in 1956 and merged with the Brighton Ensign (founded 1871) by Senator W.A. Fraser, the Trentonian eventually absorbed the Trenton Courier Advocate (founded 1853) in the early 1960s to create a larger tri-weekly newspaper as a fresher alternative to the historical weeklies.

In its first editions, before it moved to a new location at 41 Quinte Street, state-of-the-art equipment and a working press were located in the rear of the building - printing was initially done in Picton, but getting started proved difficult. The paper's first editor-reporter-photographer, James M. Muir, recalled "We were ensconced in a vacated furniture store in downtown Trenton, deep in planning the most awkward newspaper operation with which I've ever been associated."

Despite these hardships, Muir said The Trentonian was readily welcomed by readers because it carried local news photos, something the Courier-Advocate had still not caught onto; he noted that the Trentonian's initial appeal may have been due to its more extensive couverage of the RCAF base near town.

The Trentonian eventually formed a four-page base section distributed with Dominion grocery store flyers, which proved so successful that the Trentonian's owners were able to buy out the Courier-Advocate once and for all.