Rio Grande Sun, Inc.
Categories
Newspapers / Publishing
Hours:
Business hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (MST) Monday through Friday.
About Us
The Rio Grande Sun was started in October 1956 by Robert and Ruth Trapp with their partners Bill and Hollie Birkett. The Trapps bought out the Birketts in the early 1960s and have been sole owners since.
It grew from a small weekly with a few hundred circulation to the largest paid weekly newspaper in New Mexico. But it has always served the Española Valley, in north central New Mexico, with a strong emphasis on local politics, crime, school news, county coverage, editorial content and sports.
Robert E. Trapp was the editor and publisher from the paper's inception and while having won many state, national and international awards, his biggest victories were in the courtroom fighting public entities for open records and meetings.
The SUN has a paid circulation of 11,000, climbing higher in the summer when longer days provide for stronger street sales. The paper is sold primarily by street vendors, with the balance sold in stores, racks and mail subscriptions. A drive through Española on any Wednesday evening will show families parked at intersections with children dispersed at strategic selling points.
Its coverage area is unique in that Santa Fe County comes into the city of Española, encroaching on the east side of the city's main thoroughfare, Riverside Drive. Strong readership reaches north to the Colorado border and the village of Chama and the county seat Tierra Amarilla, 15 miles south of Chama.
The SUN also has a strong presence 10 miles south, into Pojoaque in northern Santa Fe County. Our offices are located at 123 Railroad Avenue on the west side of Española.
