Sold: tiny daily in Kansas town that is probably the smallest in the U.S. with a daily newspaper

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Council Grove, Kan., has an estimated population of 2,060 and is likely the smallest town in the United States with a daily newspaper. It will see the Council Grove Republican, circulation 1,482, change hands July 1. The paper has been sold to David Parker of Enid, Okla.

"Parker said there will be no changes at the newspaper in terms of staff, the paper design will remain the same and the newspaper will continue to be published daily," the Kansas Press Association reports. Parker, "who has been in the printing and publishing industry for more than 40 years," says he will move to Council Grove.

Craig McNeal and his late father, Don McNeal

The sale was announced by Craig McNeal, whose family has been involved in the daily operation for the past 82 years. The Republican has been published continuously since its first issue on Aug. 24, 1872. It became a daily in 1914.

"Council Grove was listed in the late 1900s as one of the four smallest cities in the United States, population-wise, to have a daily newspaper," KPA reports. "Today, it is the only one of the four newspapers still being published daily."