Northern Allegany Observer
Newspaper Project
Judson Howden first began publication of the NAO in May of 1888 in Fillmore, NY, a copy of which is here! To start a family tradition his son, Melvin Howden, followed his father as the next editor and publisher.
In March of 2006 a local volunteer began to copy the archived Northern Allegany Observernewspapers here at the museum. Copies of these are now available for the public to read for historical research or just for enjoyment. The years copied so far are all years ending with a 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 0 starting with 1888 up to the 1960's. The 1970's through the 1990's will be copied at a later date.
We originally thought the project would end with just copies of the newspapers; however, that is not the case. We now have the capability to scan the copies into the computer and convert them into searchable PDF files. There are currently 19 years of newspapers that are searchable. It is a slow process and will take some time to have all the years scanned and searchable. Due to limited website space we are making only the front page of certain newspapers available on this website. To read the rest of the news, visit the Town of Hume Museum.
The copied newspapers were used to research the history of the Hume Baptist Church. As a result a very complete list of pastors was published in a commemorative book for the church's 175th anniversary in 2010.
In January 2011 over 40 Fillmore Central School ninth graders came to the museum to start a class project on local history. Their focus was 1940-1960; the end result was a collaboration of all the students' hard work into a history book.
This has been an exciting project and a huge undertaking to say the very least and would not have come as far as it has without the dedication of Nancy Gillette.
Click on the button below to view a front page of an issue of the Northern Allegany Observer.
