The Westerly Echo, & Pawcatuck Advertiser Archive

The first iteration of The Literary Echo lasted only four months, from April 3 to August 21, 1851, and was published by George Herman Babcock (1832–1893) in Rhode Island's southern beach town of Westerly. Babcock opened this first printing shop in Westerly when he was nineteen years old.

On August 28, the newspaper was published with a new name, The Literary Echo & Pawcatuck Advertiser, which now encompassed the nearby town of Pawcatuck, Connecticut and reflected the intertwined lives of the readers on both sides of the state border. It was published by Champlin & Babcock until June 15, 1854. The next issue, on June 22, was renamed The Westerly Echo & Pawcatuck Advertiser published by Champlin & Hoyt and ran until March 18, 1858.

Babcock sold his interest in 1858 to return to mechanical engineering and creating daguerreotypes. He went on to invent a printing press that printed three colors simultaneously and to co-found the firm of Babcock & Wilcox, where he designed and patented boiler components for the Union Army during the American Civil War.

The publication was continued by The Narragansett Weekly, which then became The Westerly Narragansett Weekly, which was eventually absorbed by The Westerly Daily Sun.