U.S. newspapers are prone to boast, when they can, about their great antiquity. Last month, in a story noting the 200th anniversary of the Hartford, Conn., Courant (pronounced current), TIME accepted the Courant's claim to being the oldest U.S. newspaper. This endorsement evoked spirited objections from a host of pretenders to the same or a kindred crown. Among the claimants:
• THE MARYLAND GAZETTE, published six times a week in Glen Burnie, and self-styled the "oldest newspaper in the United States." A paper of that name was indeed founded in Annapolis in 1727—37 years before the Courant's birth. But that...