It’s a newspaper name that has its roots in 1864 ­— when the population of Aurora was about 700 ­— with the launch of The Aurora Banner and County of York Literary, Political, Agricultural and Advertising Journal by former teacher W.L. Matthews.

Under Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing, The Newmarket Era and The Aurora Banner were amalgamated in 1978, going on to garner an award-winning reputation as a community newspaper of excellence across North America.

This year marks the second year The Era-Banner won the prestigious Suburban Newspaper Association’s best community newspaper in North America award, a feat unparalleled by any other Canadian newspaper.

Now, with our thriving community hitting a population of about 48,000 and more growth planned for the near future, it’s time to once again give Aurora a newspaper name of its own, says publisher Ian Proudfoot.

“We’re honouring a proud newspaper tradition by bringing back The Aurora Banner name,” Mr. Proudfoot says.

“It’s an exciting time for us and our town and we hope you’ll join us in celebrating this return to our roots.”

Under The Aurora Banner flag, the newspaper will continue to provide readers and advertisers its unique and compelling package of local news and shopping information that caters specifically to the town’s residents and businesses, as well as regional news and feature stories that have an impact on their lives, editor in chief Debora Kelly says.

“This just demonstrates one more way that we’re committed to being the voice of your community,” she said.

This week, in Thursday’s broadsheet edition, you’ll also notice we’ve adopted the new industry-standard 10-column grid, which is smaller in width than the traditional broadsheet and facilitates attractive, eye-catching layout.