[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 112 (Monday, September 9, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       IN COMMEMORATION OF THE PLACER HERALD'S 150TH ANNIVERSARY

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                         HON. JOHN T. DOOLITTLE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 9, 2002

  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, today I wish to recognize the 150th 
Anniversary of my hometown newspaper, the Placer Herald, which traces 
its roots to the first printing press used in California.
  On September 11, 1852, the first edition of the Placer Herald was 
published for 25 cents per copy in Auburn, California, not far from 
where gold had been discovered a few years earlier. Established by Tabb 
Mitchell, Richard Rust, and John McElroy to serve the mining community 
in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, the newspaper was housed in a 
plain, board-sided storefront office. As an interesting historical 
note, the paper was printed on California's very first printing press--
the one that Sam Brannan had brought to publish The California Star.
  In 1892, a new, two-story brick building measuring 30 feet by 75 feet 
was erected on the site of the Placer Herald's original headquarters. 
After changing hands many times over the subsequent years, new owners 
moved the paper in 1963 to Rocklin, California, where it continues to 
be published.
  I wish to commend the modern Placer Herald for its ongoing service to 
the people of Rocklin and neighboring communities. For 150 years, it 
has maintained its heritage of reporting local news to a segment of 
California's Gold Country. The newspaper serves a valuable purpose by 
both reflecting and shaping the community it serves. As we celebrate 
the Placer Herald's sesquicentennial, let me add my wishes that the 
newspaper will flourish for another century and a half!

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