Troy Sentinel Troy Sentinel The Troy Sentinel was a semi-weekly newspaper published between 1823-1832, which served Rensselaer County in upstate New York. It was published in historic downtown Troy at 225 River Street. The newspaper is famously known for the first published edition of the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas", also known as "The Night Before Christmas" and “Twas the Night Before Christmas," its first line. It was published anonymously on December 23, 1823 and is generally attributed to Clement Clarke Moore. In July 2012 Gramercy Communications moved their corporate offices into the former home of the "Troy Sentinel". The company
A Visit from St. Nicholas composer Alma Deutscher (b. 2005). Four hand-written copies of the poem are known to exist and three are in museums, including the New-York Historical Society library. The fourth copy, written out and signed by Clement Clarke Moore as a gift to a friend in 1860, was sold by one private collector to another in December 2006. It was purchased for $280,000 by an unnamed "chief executive officer of a media company" who resides in New York City, according to Dallas, Texas-based Heritage Auctions which brokered the private sale. Moore's connection with the poem has been questioned by Professor Donald Foster,