Newspapers and Communication

The history of newspapers and communication in Aroostook County took root in 1857, when publisher William S. Gilman and editor Joseph B. Hall launched The Aroostook Pioneer in Presque Isle as the county's first newspaper, before the operation moved south to Houlton. Following his departure from the Pioneer, Hall launched The Aroostook Herald in Presque Isle with the motto 'Independent in Everything-Neutral in Nothing,' using editorials to advocate for a railroad connection into the region. In Houlton, Theodore Cary founded The Aroostook Times in 1860, operating on Court Street across from its competitor, the Aroostook Pioneer. In January 1933, the two rival publications formally consolidated to create the weekly Houlton Pioneer-Times. Meanwhile, Presque Isle's The North Star merged with The Aroostook Herald under George H. Collins and Charles F. West to form The Presque Isle Star-Herald. Further north in Caribou, attorney Samuel W. Mathews established the town's first permanent newspaper, the Aroostook Republican, publishing its first issue on January 14, 1880, before selling it in 1887 to his son-in-law Alfred Winslow Hall, who served as editor and publisher for 15 years.

Communication in the County expanded beyond print into the airwaves as technology advanced. Presque Isle's first commercial radio station, WAGM, began broadcasting on January 6, 1932, under the Aroostook Broadcasting Corporation. Harold Glidden and the Aroostook Broadcasting Corporation brought television to the area on October 13, 1956, when WAGM-TV signed on VHF channel 8 as the first full-power commercial television station established in northeastern Maine. During World War II, a top-secret self-monitoring radio communications field with an antenna array was established along Centerline Road near Presque Isle by War Department directive. On June 24, 1960, Edward G. Perrier, the owner and publisher of the Presque Isle Star-Herald, founded Presque Isle radio station WEGP, operating it until late 1964 when the station was transferred to Frank 'Skippy' Carroll. In Houlton, businessman Fred Grant acquired radio station WHOU through his company Northern Maine Media from Bob Anderson and Dave Moore of County Communications.

Today, public institutions preserve these historic voices for researchers and residents. The Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library in Presque Isle maintains digital and microfilm records of the Presque Isle Star-Herald from 1890 to 1964 alongside early papers such as the North Star, Presque Isle Sunrise, and The Independent, while master microfilm of the Aroostook Pioneer from 1857 to 1887 is kept at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. In Houlton, the Cary Library preserves digitized collections of The Aroostook Times and the Houlton Pioneer-Times through the Digital Maine repository. The Caribou Public Library maintains the Aroostook Republican Digital Archives with scans spanning from 1880 into the 20th century, partnering with Advantage Archives to provide free public access to papers including the Aroostook Republican and the North Star. Down the road, the Fort Fairfield Public Library preserves town publications from 1863 through 2012, including the Fort Fairfield Review.