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Aroostook Republican & News

We are Caribou's weekly hometown newspaper serving the interests of north central Aroostook County since 1880! We are a paid subscription site.

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When a young attorney published the first edition of the Aroostook Republican on Jan. 14, 1880, Caribou citizens may have questioned their newspaper’s chance of success. After all, they may have reasoned, the town’s first newspaper survived for two years before being bought

out by Presque Isle investors and moved across the town line. As the years passed, however, it became clear that Samuel W. Mathews was indeed sincere in his efforts to establish and maintain a weekly newspaper in Caribou. Soon the memory of the North Star and its brief two-year stay faded and the Republican quickly gained public confidence and patronage. Over 137 years and nine owners later, the Aroostook Republican continues as a weekly newspaper committed to the people and news of Caribou and the surrounding communities including Woodland, New Sweden, Limestone and Stockholm.

“It is our goal to create an accurate and appealing weekly newspaper that tells the ongoing story of Caribou and north central Aroostook County. If someone who had never visited Caribou were to read just one edition of the Aroostook Republican; we would like to believe they would get a real feel for the community and its inhabitants,” former managing editor Mark Putnam, said in a retrospective special section in 2005. To do this, the four-person staff must reach out to readers and advertisers on a daily basis to gather information in all its many forms for use in the newspaper. We also rely on community members to submit items of interest or tips to follow up on. Each issue is a mix of the planned and the unplanned. Reporters do not have to know everything; they just have to know how to find out. Today the Republican is produced by reporters Christopher Bouchard and Kevin Sjoberg and receptionist Jill Wardwell. It is paginated by graphic designer Ben Pinette. Our offices are located at our headquarters in Presque Isle at 260 Missile Street, near the airport and NMCC. Jack Faulkner, former editor, summed up the role of a community newspaper this way in a 1994 interview. “The Republican has been around a lot longer than we have, and it’ll still be here a long time after we’re gone. The editor and staff are just the temporary custodians of this newspaper.”

18/01/2024

From ash strips to baskets, Richard Silliboy preserves heritage as he weaves.

As Mi’kmaq Nation Vice Chief Richard Silliboy pounds the ash tree with the back of an ax inside his Littleton studio, he is preserving the art of his people.

09/07/2023

Travis Cyr created Arootsakoostik to bring together the busiest touring acts in jazz, rock, country, bluegrass and folk to northern Maine.

08/07/2023

Take a look at Caribou's newest seed project.

When people enter the Caribou Community Garden, Laura Bagley knows they

07/07/2023

Town manager's business savvy could help this community, residents say.

Limestone is putting its faith in a leader who has no experience but who says he wants to help the town grow.

07/07/2023

Though the mill rate may rise, this town approved its school budget.

Despite a likely mill rate increase, Limestone residents voted to pass their school budget as proposed Thursday evening.

07/07/2023

Scenes from Fourth of July in Limestone

For many, Limestone was the best place to be on this year

07/07/2023

Nurses and a local hospital reach a contract agreement.

Unionized registered nurses at A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital in Presque Isle ratified a new four-year contract Thursday.

03/07/2023

There are currently 33 miles of inactive railroad stretching from Limestone to Fort Fairfield, Caribou and Presque Isle.

03/07/2023

“They encompass aspects of rural Maine life. They live like you and I do, and that comes out in their music and vibe.”

03/07/2023

Maine's two other inclusive playgrounds in Portland and Lewiston both belong to schools, while Stockholm is the first town to form one.

Maine

29/06/2023

These County residents were honored for providing disaster aid.

For two Aroostook County men, being there to help others is just what they do.

28/06/2023

Spud Speedway's new owners are investing more than $1 million into the effort.

Spud Speedway

27/06/2023

Councilors will set Caribou's mill rate at a special meeting.

Caribou city councilors will set the annual mill rate at a special meeting July 10, the sixth time in seven years the city has delayed the process.

27/06/2023

Local libraries are making it easier for people of all abilities to enjoy their offerings.

Two libraries in central Aroostook are launching projects to help senior citizens and people with disabilities access more services.

27/06/2023

Woodland has to postpone its town meeting again.

As new employees sift through alleged mistakes of previous staff, Woodland town officials announced that the annual meeting will likely take place in July.

27/06/2023

Rain doesn't dampen spirits of Pride Aroostook festival.

Some people within the LGBTQIA2S+ community can feel isolated in their hubs across Aroostook County, but Pride Aroostook shows that people within the community can feel more represented in the Crown of Maine, organizers said.

27/06/2023

Fort Fairfield police cite sharp increase in drug-related crime.

Within four days, Fort Fairfield police arrested three people for allegedly possessing illegal drugs.

25/06/2023

A group of Fort Fairfield residents want to restore business growth and community spirit as the town recovers from major financial troubles.

20/06/2023

Limestone holds its annual town elections.

New leaders will join Limestone

20/06/2023

John Karst fell in love with Aroostook County on hunting trips with his brother and friends.

15/06/2023

Police have busy day in Fort Fairfield.

Three people were arrested Tuesday in two separate drug trafficking instances in Fort Fairfield.

15/06/2023

Fort Fairfield honors its graduates.

Proud family members, relatives and friends packed into Lawrence A. Gardner Gym for the graduation of the Fort Fairfield Class of 2023.

15/06/2023

Caribou seniors graduate.

With family, friends and mentors cheering them on, 103 students graduated from Caribou High School Sunday.

15/06/2023

Residents suspect many of the Limestone budget figures are inaccurate.

13/06/2023

Limestone is willing to take a chance on Alvin Lam because of his successful business career and enthusiasm for leading the town.

13/06/2023

The Fort Fairfield student made the threat of violence against the teacher on June 1.

12/06/2023

Time to celebrate summer in Swedish style.

When mid-June comes around, people in New Sweden and beyond come together to celebrate a shared heritage.

11/06/2023

The career experience program at Caribou High School is allowing more than 100 students to earn graduation credits outside of the classroom.

08/06/2023

Limestone kids have a new place to play.

For the first time in decades, students at Limestone Community School have a new and modern playground.

08/06/2023

Meet Fort Fairfield's Middle/High School principal.

A longtime Fort Fairfield teacher has been named principal of the town

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We are Caribou's weekly hometown newspaper serving the interests of north central Aroostook County since 1880!

About the Aroostook Republican & News:

When a young attorney published the first edition of the Aroostook Republican on Jan. 14, 1880, Caribou citizens may have questioned their newspaper’s chance of success. After all, they may have reasoned, the town’s first newspaper survived for two years before being bought out by Presque Isle investors and moved across the town line.

As the years passed, however, it became clear that Samuel W. Mathews was indeed sincere in his efforts to establish a weekly newspaper in Caribou. Soon the memory of the North Star and its brief two-year stay faded and the Republican quickly gained public confidence and patronage.

Mathews, a lawyer from Hampden, visited Caribou in 1879 and decided the town of about 2,750 residents needed a weekly newspaper. He was reportedly so impressed with the town and its people, that he abandoned his plans to practice law, moved his wife and two daughters to Caribou, and launched the Aroostook Republican in January of 1880.

The newspaperman, after editing and publishing the Republican for seven years, was tapped for the position of Maine’s first labor commissioner. Mathews accepted the offer, relocated to Augusta, and sold the newspaper to his son-in-law, Alfred Winslow Hall.

Hall, who married Mathews’ daughter Mae, assumed ownership of the Republican on May 11, 1887. He would continue as its editor and publisher for 15 years before “a feeling of weariness” prompted him to retire.

Hall sold the Caribou paper to a local firm — Porter and Leonard, who became publishers from Sept. 1, 1899 to Sept. 29, 1900. Hall, in an Oct. 4, 1900 editorial, informed readers that he had repurchased the Republican from Porter and Leonard.

“With this issue the Republican again changes hands and passes control to its former editor and proprietor,” Hall wrote in the Oct. 4 edition.

In an open letter to readers on Feb. 13, 1902, Hall offered a final farewell. “I sever my connection with the paper,” he wrote, “having sold the same to Mr. Lyman J. Pendell of Presque Isle.

Pendell, a former correspondent for the Bangor News, left his position as assistant editor of the Star-Herald to accept the new challenge. He reportedly began building up the newspaper immediately and boasted some 50 area news correspondents, who he liked to gather together in the Grange Hall once a year to discuss problems and improvements for the paper.

Under Pendell’s direction, the Republican grew from four pages in 1880 to eight pages in the early 1900s. Advertising, rather than news, apparently consumed a majority of the space.

The newspaper’s circulation was pegged at 1,950 copies in March of 1907, at a time when the town’s population totaled about 5,000.

Caribou’s weekly newspaper was sold again in 1927, when ownership transferred to the Caribou Publishing Company. The new owners included Gen. George M. Carter, high school principal John A. Partridge and local merchant Charles T. Bishop.

The new firm continued the previous owner’s commitment to the newspaper until, on Jan. 7, 1943, citizens read the headline, “Aroostook Republican sold to new Caribou group.”

The newest Republican owners were: S.W. Collins, president of the Aroostook Trust Co. and the S.W. Collins Co.; Michael Corey, restaurant owner; Walter T. Day, proprietor of the Vaughn House; Dr. Fredrick L. Gregory; Elmer J. Johnston, jeweler; Elizabeth Kirkpatrick, manager of Aroostook County Federal Savings and Loan Association; Dr. Nathan S. Lowery; David Solman, attorney; Charles A. Stetson, insurance agent; Beecher Swain, manager of Caribou Light and Power Co.; C. Robert Taylor, Republican editor and manager; and Emily Tibbetts, proprietor of S.F. Tibbetts Co.

Just four years later the group sold the Republican to a Florida publisher, who would own the weekly for nearly 20 years before selling to the current owner, Northeast Publishing Company, a subsidiary of the Bangor Publishing Company.

Charles F. Helfenstein was introduced as the new owner in the June 5, 1947 edition. Described as “well acquainted with Maine” and “active in newspaper association work,” Helfenstein would earn a reputation as a dedicated newspaperman willing to risk failure to achieve success.

Under his guidance, the Republican grew in both size and scope. Correspondents began covering news in Fort Kent and other St. John Valley communities. Helfenstein hired Doug Costello as news editor in 1958 and, by September of that year, the publication offered readers 16 pages in three sections.

Helfenstein added to his newspaper holdings in late 1962, joining Houlton Pioneer Times publisher Bernard Esters in buying out the Presque Isle Star-Herald.

The partners then incorporated as the Consolidated Printing Services of Presque Isle, and converted the printing of their publications to the modern offset method in 1963. They sold to Northeast Publishing Company in February of 1966.

The new owners retained the services of Costello as editor until his departure in 1970 to accept a consultant’s position in Pennsylvania. Costello was honored by the community as a leading citizen who was “controversial at times, but always fair. He was dedicated to the proposition that people have a right to know.”

The Aroostook Republican became the Aroostook Republican and News with the Nov. 17, 1971 edition. Since Costello’s departure, the editorship has been filled by a varied group of journalists including Margaret Smith, a longtime reporter; Kathryn Olmstead, University of Maine associate dean and publisher of “Echoes” magazine; Dale McGarrigle and Joe McLaughlin, both now with the Bangor Daily News; and Liz Chapman, Brenda Ketch, Don Buchanan, George Chapell; and others.

Today the Republican is produced by reporters Christopher Bouchard and Kevin Sjoberg and receptionist Jill Wardwell. It is paginated by graphic designer Ben Pinette. Our offices are located at our headquarters in Presque Isle at 260 Missile Street, near the airport and NMCC.

Over 137 years and nine owners later, the Aroostook Republican continues as a weekly newspaper committed to the people and news of Caribou and the surrounding communities including Woodland, New Sweden, Limestone and Stockholm. “It is our goal to create an accurate and appealing weekly newspaper that tells the ongoing story of Caribou and north central Aroostook County. If someone who had never visited Caribou were to read just one edition of the Aroostook Republican; we would like to believe they would get a real feel for the community and its inhabitants,” former managing editor Mark Putnam, said in a retrospective special section in 2005.

Jack Faulkner, former editor, summed up the role of a community newspaper this way in a 1994 interview. “The Republican has been around a lot longer than we have, and it’ll still be here a long time after we’re gone. The editor and staff are just the temporary custodians of this newspaper.”

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