A Story of GRIT: How an 1800s Newspaper Became an Iconic Rural Lifestyles Magazine

Like its rural readership, GRIT magazine has a colorful history covering rural American know-how for generations of determined folks engaging with the rural lifestyles magazine.

By Lois Hoffman
Updated on June 13, 2022
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by Kale Roberts

I have been blogging for GRIT magazine’s online edition since August 13, 2013. However, my roots with this publication and what it has meant in my life go way beyond this span of nearly nine years.

GRIT is a bi-monthly magazine distributed throughout the United States and Canada. By its own website’s definition, GRIT is rural American know-how that celebrates “country lifestyles of all kinds, while emphasizing the importance of community and stewardship. GRIT publishes feature-length articles on a broad range of topics that appeal to those already living in the country and those who aspire to get there. Our readers are well-educated, successful and choose to live on the land for many reasons. Most do not depend on their soil for significant income — some choose not to work their land (in the conventional sense) at all. But all share an appreciation for life out where the pavement ends.

“GRIT offers practical advice, product reviews, livestock guides, gardening, cooking and other do-it-yourself information, humor and the inspirational stories of folks who moved to the country and love it. Each issue covers topics related to country living, land management, wildlife, gardening, livestock or pets, skills and techniques, seasonal food, community, machinery or tools, and lifestyle events.”

With that said, it is definitely a magazine that is “up my alley”, which is why I enjoy writing for them. However, my fascination with the publication goes way back to when I was a kid visiting my grandparents’ farm. I would anxiously await the weekly edition of the then GRIT newspaper to arrive. I loved getting lost in the fiction in the GRIT story section.

History of GRIT: From 1800s Newspaper to Modern-Day Rural Lifestyles Magazine

The fiction that GRIT published in its beginning was always as colorful as the history of the newspaper itself. GRIT was founded in 1882 by the Reverend Henry Wolf, Jr., who published a weekly paper titled the Daily Sun and Banner in Williamsport, Penn. It was only four pages long and a one-color publication. The Saturday edition of the paper was called GRIT. The infant paper only lasted two years, closing its doors in 1884.

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