n fell slightly mainly because of emigration to California. In the following decades, the growth rates were below those of other population centers of the canton, which, unlike Locarno, benefited directly from the Gotthard railway.
In 1816, the special rights and title of the old mother church of San Vittore in Muralto went over to S. Antonio Abate. In 1863, snow collecting on the roof of the church caused the vault to collapse, killing 40 people. The citizens collective or borghesi lacked the resources to repair the church. Therefore, in 1866, the ownership and maintenance of the churches of S. Antonio and S. Maria in Selva were given to the town as a whole. For financial reasons, the collapsed church was not completely repaired. Only the fa�ade and central vault were rebuilt and the choir was expanded.
Between 1863-74, church of San Francesco had to be used for services, and after 1798, the Assemblies of the neighborhoods, the city and the county were held in the church. In 1814, the church of San Francesco was secularized and the Franciscans had to leave. The church and convent served from 1821 until 1827 as the State Government offices. From 1848-63, the church was closed for worship, and in 1874 it was converted into a barracks and a salt storage. In 1924, it was converted back into a church and used by Benedictines for Catholic services delivered in the German language. The Jesuits took over this task from 1947 until 1992. The monastery was secularized in 1848, and after the 1893-94 renovation, it housed the first high school. Then in 1930 it was used for teacher training.
Modern Locarno
Between 1935-92, the newspaper, L'Eco di Locarno was printed in Locarno. In 1992, it merged with the official newspaper of the Liberal party Il dovere to create the daily newspaperLa Regione. Since 1987, the only German language newspaper in Ticino, the Tessiner Zeitung, is published three times each week in Locarno
