All posts tagged: History

Juneteenth in Dunedin: A Day of Recognition, Restoration, and Celebration

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The scent of steamed and boiled seafood filled the air. Eli’s Barbecue added its own smoky note. Children laughed and played. Music drifted across Pioneer Park. Under a clear sky, a cool breeze kept everyone comfortable as the City of Dunedin came together on a warm June evening to celebrate Juneteenth—a day of recognition, restoration, and celebration. The Gathering Presented by Dunedin Parks & Recreation, the event was free and open to all. Craft vendors lined the grass. Food vendors served up local favorites. Families spread out on blankets and folding chairs. Friends greeted friends they had not seen since last year’s celebration. The evening was just like any other in Dunedin—except that it was not. It was a day set apart. A day to remember. A day to lift every voice. The Entertainers and Vendors The event featured a rich array of local talent and small businesses: Special performances included the St. John Primitive Mass Choir, the Mt. Olive AME Mass Choir, Thee Poetic Prophet, and Crystal Latrece. The Harmony of Liberty The most …

Historical black and white photo of the single-story Dunedin Times Newspaper building with a wooden hanging sign above the entrance and two vintage Ford Model T cars parked in front.

Before The Suntropolitan: The Story of Dunedin’s First Newspaper

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Every time I publish an article, I think about the people who did this before me. Before websites. Before Instagram. Before cameras that fit in your pocket. They set type by hand. They printed on presses that weighed as much as a car. And they delivered the news to a town so small that a newspaper could fit on four pages and still cover everything worth saying. This is the story of Dunedin’s first newspaper—and the people who kept it going for nearly a century. The First Ink: 1884 The city of Dunedin first encountered printed news in late July 1884 . The paper was called the West Hillsborough Times, and it served the larger county that Dunedin was still part of at the time. It was a modest operation. The paper ran just four pages. The first and last pages carried local news—the births, deaths, meetings, and moments that mattered to a small farming town. The second and third pages were filled with general reading material and entertainment articles, purchased from a firm in …