Orchid Alley

The Cortland Standard, the only daily newspaper published in Cortland County, N.Y., is more than 141 years old. Known as the Cortland County Standard, the newspaper was established in June 1867 as a weekly newspaper. The original publisher of the newspaper encountered various difficulties in getting the paper started. In the first issue, he pointed out that the press had not arrived in time for the printing of the first edition. The first issue of the paper, therefore, was printed in the offices of a competition newspaper. In 1872, Wesley Hooker purchased the paper. At the same time, he also purchased the Cortland Journal and combined the two papers under the name, The Standard and Journal. The name was changed to the Cortland Standard in 1879. In 1876, William H. Clark purchased the paper and served as its editor and publisher for nearly 52 years. The Cortland Standard, which is one of the few remaining family-owned newspapers in New York, continues to be published under the ownership of members of the Clark family. In marked contrast to the appearance of today s newspaper, the first issue of the daily Cortland Standard was a four-page paper published in March 1892. The paper was printed on an eight-page flatbed press that was capable of producing up to 3,500 copies per hour.