What Was Inside Last Edition Of Jersey Journal? (Secret Messages? Easter Eggs?)

JERSEY CITY, NJ — For 158 years, a newspaper in Jersey City highlighted issues that may have been otherwise missed by the public, covering the ups and downs of Hudson County life and (notorious) politics.

The last issue of the Jersey Journal newspaper — founded by two Civil War veterans in 1867 — hit newsstands in North Jersey on Saturday.

The paper included a final editorial, a history — and goodbye letters from readers.

"My grandmother made special afternoon trips to the corner to fetch the latest Jersey Journal for my grandfather," wrote Bill Miller of Secaucus, saying they lived in Hoboken in the 1990s. "He read it after dinner, seated in his favorite chair."

The paper said its founders, Captain William Dunning and Major Z.K. Pangborn, started it out of concern for national issues.

"We were founded just months after the Civil War by two veterans pushing New Jersey to adopt what became the 15th Amendment to the Constitution," they wrote on Saturday, "the then-radical idea that every citizen of the United States should have the right to vote, regardless of their 'race, color, or previous condition of servitude.' It's bizarre that more than 150 years later, America is still debating whether all persons born within its boundaries qualify as citizens."

An editorial urged the passage of the Liberty State Park Protection Act that would protect the park in Jersey City from privatization. Activists have been concerned that developer Paul Fireman will privatize part of the park.

The paper played various roles in the community: Hosting spelling bees, highlighting young athletes, and shining a light on issues that might have gone unnoticed, from historic preservation efforts to Teri West's recent series that raised awareness of a rent control referendum in Hoboken.

Colin Egan, the director of the Landmark Loew's Theater, wrote, "People say all the news and information The Jersey Journal printed can now be found online. It probably can, but it's scattered across a forest of websites, social media pages and blogs. And it's mixed in a vast swirl with other information of uncertain veracity. What a person sees depends on algorithms and influencers."

Right now, news remains essential, but it falls upon readers to look for it in new places — while remembering that not every country allows as many choices, and even here, their survival is not guaranteed.

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See the last issue of the Journal here.