Taylors Falls Reporter

Taylors Falls reporter (Taylors Falls, Minn.) 1860-1862  Browse the title

Taylors Falls reporter (Taylors Falls, Minn.) 1863-1873  Browse the title

The first issue of the Taylors Falls Reporter was published on February 23, 1860 in Taylors Falls, Minnesota, located in Chisago County along the St. Croix River. The St. Croix River Valley was originally occupied by the Ojibwe and Dakota people; New Englanders and immigrants from Sweden settled in the area in the 1850s. The Reporter, Chisago County's first newspaper, was founded and operated by Frank H. Pratt. The Reporter's first printing office was located in "Folsom’s Old Building," on First Street in Taylors Falls. The inaugural issue of the Reporter made clear the paper's political leanings and staunch anti-slavery stance: "We shall advocate Republican principles. The institution of slavery we believe to be a curse to the human race and shall ever wage a relentless warfare against its further extension." An article entitled "Taylors Falls", explaining the early history of the area, is also included in this issue. Issues of the Reporter were generally four pages long with seven columns of content, printed on Thursdays. News from the state legislature was published, along with Congressional, telegraphic, and general interest news. Following the July 31, 1862 issue, Pratt sold the Reporter to David Alonzo Caneday, leaving to serve in the Civil War. Caneday renamed the newspaper the Saint Croix Monitor and ran it until sometime in 1863, when he sold it to Edward H. Folsom and himself left to join the Civil War. 

Folsom reverted the title to Taylors Falls Reporter and operated the newspaper along with his brother, Charles. The printing office was located on the corner of Second and River Streets. Issues were four pages long with six columns of content, including news from a local to international level, poetry, congressional news, and miscellaneous news. An account of Congressman Ignatius L. Donnelly’s speech at Folsom’s Hall appears in the October 22, 1864, issue. Edward Folsom first retired from the Reporter in 1869, leaving Charles to operate the paper until his death in 1872, when Edward returned once again as editor and publisher. Folsom sold the Reporter to Colonel Platt Bayless Walker and Henry Elisha Barlow after the July 11, 1873 issue. Walker and Barlow immediately changed the title to the Taylors Falls Journal. Folsom established the Stillwater Lumberman in 1875 but later returned to Taylors Falls and served as editor of the Taylors Falls Journal until his death in June 1911. The Journal likely folded on August 1, 1912.