There is a sign on the front door of the Chester County Press that informs the visitor that it is the oldest newspaper and largest weekly in Chester County, and that it was founded in 1866. Through parts of three centuries and several incarnations, the Press has served its purpose well – as a purveyor of facts, a meeting place of stories, and as both a persistent watchdog and as a weekly companion to the communities it serves. 

As we head into what will be the fifteenth year of a new century, we know that while all of these edicts have remained true and firmly in practice, we also know that life in southern Chester County is no longer the way it was when this newspaper was founded 139 years ago. News is no longer produced on hot type and posted in a town's center. It is a global network, a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week siren song, a continuous flip cycle spin of breaking stories than can be accessed and read in the palm of one's hand an instant after news occurs. 

The death knoll of the modern newspaper in the growing age of online news resources is a well-documented story, and while the reasons for their slow decline and near disappearance from the American conversation are many, the chief culprit in their failing health has been their inability to bend their mission to what now dictates the way we choose to be informed.  

We understand that, so as much as we will remain the same, we are ushering in a new age of the Chester County Press. Welcome to it.

Our website – chestercounty.com – serves as your electronic community newspaper, but instead of waiting an entire week for the next edition of the Chester County Press, readers can access articles on a clean, colorful and well-designed website that offers a constantly-updated carousel of stories. If a crucial story breaks, our editorial team now has the ability to inform you almost instantly about what's happening in your hometown.   

Our Facebook page connects you to breaking stories and links you not only to our website, but connects you to local newsmakers, introduces you to local real estate opportunities, takes you on photographic journeys of local events, and brings you directly in touch with our family of advertisers. “Like” our Facebook page and become a part of our expanding news source. 

For those of you who prefer to read your Chester County Press in its printed form, fear not. The newspaper of your community will always be available at newsstands or delivered to your home every week. We will still be publishing major news stories, local politics and high school sports in the printed form, as well as profiling the many people and organizations who make up this special community of towns and villages. 

As we look forward to 2015, we do so with a sense of excitement and anticipation. We're no longer just one newspaper. The Chester County Press is seven regional magazines, nearly one dozen other supplements and guides. Now, with a comprehensive website and an expanding, reader-friendly Facebook presence, we are proud to say we are a truly complete news organization.

Our best to you and your family in 2015.