History can get murky at times, but what’s clear is the thank you we at The News Courier owe to Limestone County for allowing us to serve you through 150 years of newspapers as your local, community source.

We’ve said it before and we’ll repeat it here: A local newspaper is not “owned” by an individual or corporation or even a nonprofit organization. It’s owned by the community that it covers, and for us, that means a sense of ownership that belongs to every resident who lives or works in Limestone County. The News Courier is your newspaper.

That’s as it has been through 150 volumes (we’ll explain what that means in a moment) and the proof of that statement is simple: Few businesses in our young nation continue to such an age, and those that do thrive only through the support of its patrons.

So again, thank you for that support.

But what’s all this about that newspaper jargon, “volumes?”

The News Courier this year celebrates its 150th volume. Traditionally, a newspaper could trace it origin year through its volume number, and that’s why that number is treated with the respect it deserves. In other words, if a newspaper is on volume 150, it typically would have been founded in 1873. That’s not so cut-and-dried with your News Courier. Remember, history can get murky, and your local paper has gone through a good number of iterations through the last century and a half.

Likely beginning in the late 19th century with The Alabama Courier merging with its political rival (not an uncommon occurrence in those days), the Limestone Democrat, and adding to the mix another newspaper of uncertain origin, the Athens Limestone County News Leader, and then combining all of these weeklies into one daily newspaper, the Athens News Courier in the late 1960s, it took an inspired editor once upon a time to figure out the volume math leading to the 150 we celebrate this year — a volume numbering system that has been consistent since, in terms of years, through today.

And so here we are, 150 volumes and more than 10,000 editions of the newspaper later, still covering the births and deaths, celebrations and calendars, meetings and profiles and the advertising news you need to help manage a family or simply live the best life you can live in Limestone County.

We couldn’t have done it without you. And we can’t do it without you. Your support through a subscription, single copy or advertising has never been more appreciated.

Newspaper formats change — we don’t know if you’re reading this in print, on your phone, a tablet or through our app — but the news of our community is what ultimately matters, and that doesn’t change. We look forward to serving you through the next 150 years.