Which Came First, the Courant or the Post?

The connecticuthistory.org website says this:  “On October 29, 1764, New Haven printer Thomas Green established a weekly newspaper, the Connecticut Courant, in Hartford. Only the third newspaper to be published in the colony—and now known as the Hartford Courant—it is also recognized as the nation’s oldest continuously published paper.”

Apparently, not in New York. 

The website of the New York Post includes this: “Founded in 1801 by Alexander Hamilton, the New York Post has been telling stories for over 200 years. Stories that shape your world. That make you smile. That cause you to share.  America’s oldest continuously-published newspaper, the New York Post has evolved into a national digital presence, one of the country’s most provocative, impactful, and beloved news brands.”

The Post’s claim is also featured prominently on mobile posts by the newspaper; the Courant includes the phrase “Founded in 1764” embedded in the masthead that appears on the front page of each day’s newspaper. For many years early in this century, the phrase “American’s Oldest Continuously Published Newspaper” also appeared daily, right above the masthead on page one.

The controversy is not new, but seemed like it had been put to bed when TIME magazine, in 1964, offered this:   “U.S. newspapers are prone to boast, when they can, about their great antiquity. Last month, in a story noting the 200th anniversary of the Hartford, Conn., Courant (pronounced current), TIME accepted the Courant's claim to being the oldest U.S. newspaper.”

It noted some “spirited objections” at the time, from the Maryland Gazette, Virginia Gazette, Newport (RI) Mercury (a weekly started by Benjamin Franklin’s nephew) and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Concluded TIME:  “In 1837, a 73-year-old Hartford weekly named the Connecticut Courant put forth a daily edition called the Hartford Courant. Thus the U.S.'s oldest newspaper describes an ancestorless continuum that is a straight line two centuries long.”

Diana McCain, then head of the Research Center at the Connecticut Historical Society and a noted historian and author, told the New York Times in 2014 that through the decades, The Courant has tried to remain adaptable, “whether switching from weekly to daily publication in 1837 or expanding onto the Internet 150 years later.”

Footnote:  The website of the New York Historical Society describes the New York Post this way:  “The New York Post, founded in 1801, is the oldest New York City newspaper in continuous publication.”