451 Press, once the the largest blog network in the United States passed away today. The cause is unknown. 451 Press had just celebrated its third birthday.

Known for its coterie of talented bloggers and its broad base of special interest blogs, 451 Press was built on a dream, give bloggers a place to write about their passion and pay them for it.

451 Press suffered from tarnish in 2007 from it "let's pay the bloggers" reputation when disaffected former 451 bloggers complained bitterly of pay problems and a lack of communication from management. 2008 saw a series of system crashes that hurt growing traffic. Though new servers were installed it took months for traffic levels to build. In January 2009, Steve Shickles announced to the bloggers that sites would be culled to reduce expenses. Bloggers who lost their sites were offered other sites though many of these had already lost their fan base due to inactivity.

While the network had its problems, its core of dedicated bloggers held onto the dream, with bloggers who posted even today. Other bloggers were waiting for log on problems to be cleared so they could get up their posts. No one expected the total shut down of the entire site.

Steve Shickles, President and CEO of 451 Press, was unavailable for comment. Employees, however, have seen him around the building.

There will be no services. A comment below is encouraged in lieu of flowers.