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On Feb. 16, 1922, the Nisqually Valley News issued its first newspaper, published by Elmer Fristoe. The single broadsheet highlighted the importance of a hometown newspaper.

"Our people have been anxiously waiting for their new paper so long, that in face of the many handicaps we have met, we decided to at least show our good faith by giving you this little sheet," stated an article in the left hand column of the front page.

It later stated "the greatest reason of all for issuing a small paper is, we do not like to buy a larger paper half printed in Chicago with a lot of patent medicine and moonshine advertisements in it for which they get paid and we give them the very best circulation in the world: the rural homes of the country."

That highlighted the hyperlocal focus of the Nisqually Valley News, which has now been in existence for a century. Our newspaper still strives to provide local news to the communities we serve, and we still prefer to report on happenings from our community rather than allow big-city newspapers to do so from the outside.

In the original edition, the article stated "it is our intention later on to make the news eight or even ten pages, let us hope more."

Throughout the years, the Nisqually Valley News has gone through many changes. It has included a number of owners, differing staff sizes and various page counts, but the focus has always centered around covering the stories that matter to the residents of our area.

To read more from this article, visit: https://www.yelmonline.com/stories/nisqually-valley-news-celebrates-100th-anniversary,284629