For over a half-century, the
Trentonian has been the voice of record for the former town of
Trenton, Ontario and the current city of
Quinte West and its surrounding communities. Founded in 1956 and merged with the
Brighton Ensign (founded 1871) by Senator W.A. Fraser, the
Trentonian eventually absorbed the
Trenton Courier Advocate (founded 1853) in the early 1960s to create a larger tri-weekly newspaper as a fresher alternative to the historical weeklies. In its first editions, before it moved to a new location at 41 Quinte Street, state-of-the-art equipment and a working
press were located in the rear of the building - printing was initially done in
Picton, but getting started proved difficult. The paper's first editor-reporter-photographer, James M. Muir, recalled "We were ensconced in a vacated furniture store in downtown Trenton, deep in planning the most awkward newspaper operation with which I've ever been associated." Despite these hardships, Muir said The
Trentonian was readily welcomed by readers because it carried local news photos, something the
Courier-Advocate had still not caught onto; he noted that the ''Trentonian's'' initial appeal may have been due to its more extensive coverage of the
Royal Canadian Air Force base near town. The
Trentonian eventually formed a four-page base section distributed with
Dominion grocery store flyers, which proved so successful that the ''Trentonian's
owners were able to buy out the Courier-Advocate'' once and for all. ==Ownership==