The Melrose Free Press

This past Thursday, July 29th saw the death of one of Melrose’s oldest institutions. After nearly 120 years of weekly publication, the Melrose Free Press ceased its run.

The MFP’s inaugural issue was published on November 15th, 1901. It was Melrose’s third newspaper, competing for readers with the Melrose Journal and the Melrose Reporter. While it promised much of the same coverage, the MFP differed from its competitors in one key way: as its name proclaimed, it was free. The newspaper was delivered to the doors of thousands of Melrosians, no subscription needed.

The paper was founded by S. G. Potter, who had previously worked for the Journal, and had been a co-owner of the Reporter. He brought on veteran Boston Globe reporter George H. Dearborn to serve as editor. Rounding out the team was twenty-year-old Arthur M. Blackstone, who drew political cartoons on Melrose subjects, a first in the city’s journalistic history.

This formula worked, and the MFP became the city’s dominant newspaper. In 1939 the company constructed a suitably impressive building for itself at 40 West Foster Street; it was knocked down to make way from the TD Bank drive-thru in 2010.

In 1930 the paper hired Dorothy Raymond, a recent Melrose High grad, as a receptionist. By 1942 Raymond was the paper’s editor, a post she would hold until 1987. She also served as the first female president of the Massachusetts Press Association.

In 1991 the MFP was sold to the Community Newspaper Co., a subsidiary of Fidelity that had bought up most of the Boston suburban newspapers. It has been in corporate ownership ever since, most recently being absorbed by Gannett Media in 2020. In recent years the paper has weathered the decimation of advertising revenue that accompanied the rise of the Internet, and an ever-shrinking staff. The newspaper has not had a full-time Melrose reporter since September of 2019.

A new, amalgamated successor paper will now publish news about Melrose and four other communities.