| Type | Semi-weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Founded | June 16, 1790 |
| Language | English |
| Ceased publication | May 23, 1840 |
| Headquarters | Boston, Massachusetts United States |
The Columbian Centinel (1790-1840) was a Boston, Massachusetts, newspaper established by Benjamin Russell. It continued its predecessor, the Massachusetts Centinel and the Republican Journal, which Russell and partner William Warden had first issued on March 24, 1784.[1] The paper was "the most influential and enterprising paper in Massachusetts after the Revolution."[2] In the Federalist Era, it was aligned with Federalist sentiment. Until ca.1800, the Centinel's circulation was the largest in Boston. Its closest competitor was the anti-Federalist Independent Chronicle ("the compliments that were frequently exchanged by these journalistic adversaries were more forcible than polite").[3]
Russell "can be justly characterized as the Horace Greeley of his time."[4] In 1828 Russell sold the Centinel to Joseph T. Adams and Thomas Hudson, who continued publishing it.[5] In 1840, the Centinel merged with a number of other Boston papers—the Independent Chronicle & Boston Patriot, the Boston Commercial Gazette, and the New-England Palladium -- to form the Boston Semi-weekly Advertiser[6], which eventually became the Boston Herald.