History
of a small-town paper
In 1895,
a newspaper was born in Lanark village, providing the village and surrounding
areas with pertinent local information, opinions and advertisements.
The Lanark Era wasn't the first paper in then-Lanark Township, now the larger
Lanark Highlands Township – but it is the one that has survived and
thrived in the following years. The Era has been a constant in Lanark County
through the First and Second World Wars, through post-war growth, through
a devastating fire that decimated Lanark village, and through the many changes
since then.
John Sutherland started The Lanark Era, but within a year, he had sold the
paper to Robert Wilson from Carleton Place. Over the years, the paper changed
hands several times, with a short break in the late 1970s before Dennis
Schroeden took over and the paper began again as The New Era.
When long-time owner Wendy Vallillee bought the paper in 1986, she incorporated
the business and re-established the Lanark Era name in 1990. Vallillee sold
the paper in December of 2008 to Gena Gibson, who still runs the Era as
the owner and editor.
The Era is a small, community-minded newspaper publishing once a week, every
Tuesday. The paper (and its three-member staff) takes a two-week holiday
in the summer and another at Christmastime, with 48 issues published each
year.
Lanark Highlands, Drummond/North Elmsley, and Tay Valley townships, as well
as Perth and Missississippi Mills (which includes Almonte), all receive
coverage in the Era on a regular basis. Community events, Lanark Highlands
Township council, Lanark County news, local schools and churches –
they all make up the backbone of the Era and its importance to the community.
A
historical resource
Back issues of The Lanark
Era, from 1895 to 2016, are available in the library of Algonquin College
Perth Campus. Staff will help you find the issues and use the machine, with
copies of pages able to be printed on large-format paper and pages also
available in .pdf, .jpg and .tiff formats.
At the Era office, we also have available books from globalgenealogy.com,
with births, deaths and marriages from The Lanark Era from 1895 to 1939,
in three volumes. Stop in at the office at 66 George St. in Lanark village
or visit www.globalgenealogy.com to learn more.
Why
subscribe?
Sure, other papers come free in your mailbox. But the Era covers the news
you need to know, in Lanark Highlands and the surrounding areas. Your subscription
will help a local, independent newspaper continue to thrive, for another
120-plus years!