By Anne Levin

In the eight decades since the first issue of Town Topics was delivered to Princeton residents as a sheet of folded 10” by 3.2” paper printed on both sides, the newspaper has never missed an issue — even during the COVID-19 pandemic and the destructive hurricanes known as Irene and Sandy.

March 15 marked the 80th anniversary of the weekly publication founded by Dan D. Coyle and Donald C. Stuart in 1946. It took a few years for that initial issue to grow to full tabloid size printed on actual newsprint, covering everything from weddings to local government.

Recalling the early years of the paper in a letter to the Town Topics Mailbox 15 years ago, Stuart’s son Jeb, who took over when his father died in 1981, wrote that the elder Stuart and Coyle “liked the idea of a newspaper that would be delivered free of charge to every home in Princeton Borough and Township. At the time, free circulation newspapers or ‘throwaways’ had a certain stigma attached to them because they contained virtually no news worthy of the name.”

The two men, “both with solid journalistic backgrounds, made certain Town Topics would eventually cover all the news in the town Princetonians would want to read,” he continued. “Advertisers liked the idea, because they realized all the residents would receive the paper. The size of an old ‘Esso’ roadmap when it first appeared, Town Topics grew and prospered to the size you are holding in your hands today.”

Local advertisers have always been a focus. A glance through the issue from April 21, 1957, for instance — courtesy of Princeton Public Library’s Papers of Princeton index, is lined with ads evocative of the era. “It’s a Pleasure to Please You,” reads an ad from The Nassau Tavern Hotel (today the Nassau Inn) on Palmer Square. Rosedale Lockers on Alexander Street was selling “Smokey Hams and Bacon.” Christine’s Beauty Salon on Spring Street was advertising “Permanent Waving,” while Harry Ballot on Nassau Street was offering “Dacron and Wool Tropicals.”

In the early years, members of the Coyle and Stuart families helped out as Town Topics grew. Originally carried around in Coyle’s and Stuart’s briefcases, the paper moved to an actual home base at 4 Mercer Street in 1950. The business outgrew that location and moved to 305 Witherspoon Street in 2007. Eight years later, the paper relocated to what was formerly the Union Line Hotel in Kingston. Since 2023, Town Topics and Princeton Magazine, which make up Witherspoon Media Group, have been based in an office park just a block north in Kingston.

The Coyles moved away from Princeton in 1973. After Stuart passed away following 35 years as editor in 1981, Jeb Stuart and his wife Sheila, who directed the business side, ran the paper until 2001. That’s when Lynn Adams Smith offered to buy the paper after working on the advertising staff for a few months. In partnership with architects J. Robert “Bob” Hillier and his wife Barbara, plus the financial backing of a small group of the paper’s employees, Smith took charge and continued until her retirement in 2024. Bob Hillier continues as publisher; Barbara Hillier passed away in 2022.

Hillier acknowledged that Town Topics has endured some financial ups and downs. But most recently, the paper has flourished. “Local newspapers, in general, are not doing well. But we are,” he said. “It has to do with our attitude about marketing. Where we were in the red at one point, we are now turning a profit. We’ve decided to go aggressive, and it’s really phenomenal what Melissa [Bilyeu, operations director] and the advertising staff has been able to do.”

Hillier grew up in Princeton, delivering orders for his mother’s business The Flower Basket, where CVS is located today. Despite its current rate of growth, the town retains its appeal. “Yes, there is more traffic now, especially with all the new building going on as part of the affordable housing obligation,” he said. “The town is required to deliver a certain number. But I always say that Princeton is the best little city in the world. It’s got everything a city has, but it’s a small town. And Town Topics will continue, because it has a great following.”