For more than 60 years, newspapers were the main form of media in Florence. Keeping the public educated and informed about current events happening locally and beyond, some of newspapers ran without competition while others were established specifically to compete with another newspaper. This is a history of newspapers in Florence.

Florence Courier

(1856-1857) The Florence Courier was a weekly newspaper that was launched on December 25, 1856, and published by James C. Mitchell, who is widely credited as the founder of Florence, with Editors of the paper included L.H. Lathrop as the editor. The masthead of the paper read “We would rather be in the right place, on ‘Rock Bottom’ than have the capitol of the Territory.” The offices of the paper were in the Florence Bank on the Florence Main Street.

Florence Daily Courier

(1858) Starting in 1858, the Daily Courier was edited by Richard H. See and ran for just a year. During that time, John M. Mentzer was also the editor.

Florence Items

(1903-1908) Originally published by F.B. Nicholas of Omaha, the Florence Items had 1,000 copies printed weekly for “the best farming community in the state of Nebraska.” William R. Wall was the editor. A railroad station agent at the Northwestern depot in Florence, a newspaper at the time said “he is probably the best known man in the city.” Along with the paper, he was a stockholder in the noted Florence Canning Factory and later became head banker at the Farmers State Bank of Florence. In 1908, the printing plant and paper were sold and closed down.

Florence Gazette

(1903-1908) George Holten and Irving G. Baright fought in court over ownership of the Florence Gazette in 1909. Baright won an injuction against Holten and his team preventing them from using the name or anything else related, and the paper was never published again.

Florence Tribune

(1909-1916) E.L. Platz was the editor, and his office was on the second floor of the Florence Bank building. The paper was published weekly on Fridays.

The Tattler

(1915-1915) This was a neighborhood “rag” filled with gossip and personal news, with very little actual public news included. It ran for less than a year.

Florence Fontenelle / Minne Lusa Review

(1919—1933) This was a neighborhood newspaper with advertisements from Florence-area businesses, news from the far North Omaha region, and other information.

Other Papers

The Florence Home for the Aged published their own newspaper more than once, including from 1935 to 1943. Throughout the decades after it was originally published in the 1850s, there were several newspapers published with the name Florence Courier that were not of the same lineage. Some other versions were published from 1905 to 1908 and from 1935 to 1943.

Today

There is no newspaper specifically for the Florence community today. The only remnant of the newspapers listed above is the old Bank of Florence building, which housed one more than a century ago. Perhaps in the future, the newspapers of Florence will get their due memorial. Until then, we remember them with this article.

Special thanks to John Lemen for his contributions to this article!

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MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE HISTORY OF FLORENCE
Basics: History | Banks | Newspapers | Churches | Mayors
Public Places: Florence Main Street | Florence High School | The Mormon Tree | Mormon Bridge | Florence Boulevard | River Drive | J.J. Pershing Drive and Monument | Potter’s Field
Businesses: Florence Mill | Zestos | Florence Home | Florence Bank | Florence Mill | Florence Ferry | Florence Water Works | Florence Depot
Houses: Parker Mansion | Brandeis Country Home | Lantry-Thompson Mansion | Mitchell House | Hunt Mansion
Other Historic Places: Cutler’s Park | Winter Quarters | Vennelyst Park | Florence Building
People: James M. Parker | James Comey Mitchell | Florence Kilborn | Jacob Weber Sr.
Neighborhoods: Winter Quarters | Florence Field | Wyman Heights | High Point
Mormon History Locations: Mormon Pioneer Memorial Bridge | Site of the Mormon Tree | Cutler’s Park | Brigham Young House | Mormon Mill
Other: Directory of Florence Historic Places