The Chillicothe Gazette

Side A: The oldest commercial enterprise in Ohio, the Chillicothe Gazette began publication on April 25, 1800, as Freeman’s Journal and Chillicothe Advertiser. That October it became the Scioto Gazette, and Chillicothe has had a Gazette ever since. It is the oldest newspaper in continuous operation west of the Allegheny Mountains, and the second oldest in the United States. Its first publisher and editor, Nathaniel Willis, was a Revolution-era Boston printer who reputedly apprenticed under Benjamin Franklin. Under his leadership the Gazette became one of the most influential papers in the expanding West. It first reported news transmitted by telegraph in 1847 and began daily publication in 1849. The Gazette moved into this building, a replica of Ohio’s first statehouse, in 1941. Side B: Same