The Many Newspapers of Bridgton

All the News that's Fit to Print - and then Some!

A history of the many newspapers in Bridgton, Maine. Collection organized and cataloged by Mike Davis of the Bridgton Historical Society.

The Town of Bridgton has quite a surprising history when it comes to how its citizens received their news.

Unlike most small towns in Maine that even today lack a single newspaper to their name, the town of Bridgton has a long and vibrant tradition of journalism going back 160 years, the currents of which survive to this day. When Bridgton's first newspaper opened in 1858, it served a small, secluded industrial town of just over 2500 people. Today, while Bridgton is still a small town with a population of just over 5000, it nevertheless remains as much a hotbed of journalism as it ever has.

Despite out small size, you may be surprised to know that Bridgton has been served by no less than 7 full-size newspapers over the course of its existence; most of them spanning many years of publication, and all but two seeing publication concurrent with at least one other existing newspaper. If you're looking for a local event that's happened here sometime in the last century and half, you can bet someone in Bridgton was there to report on it!