The Altoona Tribune was a daily newspaper in Blair County, Pennsylvania

Blair County, Pennsylvania

-Significant Topographic Features:*Brush Mountain*Logan Valley*Morrison Cove*Tussey Mountain-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 129,144 people, 51,518 households, and 34,877 families residing in the county. The population density was 246 people per square mile . There were 55,061...

.

It was launched on January 1, 1856 by Ephraim B. McCrum and William M. Allison, with equipment purchased from the defunct Altoona Register. Two years later, H. C. Dern acquired Allison's share of the company, and in 1875, Hugh Pitcairn

Hugh Pitcairn

Hugh Pitcairn served as the first United States consul general to Hamburg, German Empire from 1903 to 1908. He was the brother of Pennsylvania railroad magnate Robert Pitcairn and industrialist John Pitcairn.-Early life:...

 replaced McCrum.
Dern and Pitcairn started publishing daily issues in 1873. These were discontinued after two years, but resumed in 1878.

Adam J. Greer was one of the first editors, and was followed by William H. Schwartz. Schwartz had been associated with local newspaper work for more than thirty years, and achieved widespread recognition for his editorials.

Mr. Dern died in 1905, but his family retained his interest in the paper. Hugh Pitcairn became the president, and the Tribune remained in control of Pitcairn and the Dern family until 1912, when Col. Henry W. Shoemaker

Henry W. Shoemaker

Henry Wharton Shoemaker was a prominent American folklorist, historian, diplomat, writer, publisher, and conservationist.-Early life, family, and career:...

 assumed ownership and merged it with two other papers, the Altoona Gazette and the Altoona Times.

Under the Pitcairn-Dern ownership, the Tribune maintained a wide circulation (42,000 in 1899), and appeared each morning. Its political stance was 'independent Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

', and it described itself as 'progressive'.

The new owner, Shoemaker, wrote a weekly column in which he covered regional folklore and history and called for conservation and neighborhood beautification efforts.

Shoemaker died in 1957, and the paper was closed shortly after, in 1958.

There was also a newspaper called The Altoona Tribune, which served Altoona, Wisconsin, and which closed in 1947.

External links

• Altoona Tribune 1860 editions