www.californiabusinesshistory.com

March 15, 1848 - The Californian newspaper (founded in Monterey on August 15, 1846 by Walter Colton, Robert Semple) reported discovery of gold; March 25, 1848 - The California Star newspaper (first published in San Francisco on January 9, 1847 by Sam Brannan, Elbert P. Jones, Edward C. Kemble) reported discovery of gold; April 1, 1848 - printed six-page extra edition; described "immensely rich" gold mine in Sacramento Valley; June 10, 1848 - publication of California Star temporarily halted because the staff had rushed of to the Sierra gold fields; November 11, 1848 - The Californian acquired by California Star; November 18, 1848 - Kemble published California Star and The Californian; January 22, 1849 - name changed to The Alta California; first daily newspaper in California.

June 1854 - Crescent City Herald first to publish in northwestern California; 1861 - discontinued; September 1872 - March 1875 - Crescent City Courier; 1879 - Del Norte Record began publishing; 1881 - acquired Crescent City Courier; 1892 - Crescent City News established; 1910-1912 - merged with Del Norte Record, with Coast Times; with Del Norte Argus; formed Del Norte Triplicate; 1926 - Crescent City American established; 1968 - became Crescent City Sunday American; 1969 - merged with Triplicate; renamed The Daily Triplicate; one of longest running newspapers in Northwest California.

February 3, 1857 - James McClatchy published first issue of The Daily Bee in Sacramento, CA: "The name of The Bee has been adopted as being different from that of any other paper in the state and as also being emblematic of the industry which is to prevail in its every department"; 1883 - Valentine Stuart and Charles Kenny (sons) bought out last remaining co-owner of newspaper after their father's death; September 1, 1923 - After nearly 40 years of running the company as equals, brothers agreed to bid privately against each other for sole control of company; C.K. submitted higher bid, took over; 1979 - acquired first out-of-state newspapers; 1989 - Erwin Potts became first non-family member to head company; 1999 - revenues exceed $1 billion for the first time; 2004 - 20th consecutive year of daily circulation growth, record unmatched in U.S. newspaper industry; March 13, 2006 - McClatchy Company announced agreement to purchase Knight Ridder, United States' second largest chain of daily newspapers for $4.5 billion in cash and stock; gave McClatchy 32 daily newspapers in 29 markets, total circulation of 3.3 million.

1861 - A. Jerome (Ai) Barney, Jerome A. Barney (son) founded Marin County Journal. county's first newspaper; October 5, 1872 - acquired by Simon Fitch Barstow; 1900 - Harry Granice (The Sonoma Index-Tribune) established San Rafael Independent; November 1, 1926 - Independent acquired by Harry Lutgens (Sonoma Valley Forum, Sebastopol Times, press secretary to Governor Friend W. Richardson); October 1927 - went daily; 1937 - acquired by California Newspapers. Inc. (Jack Craemer, Roy A. Brown, William Hart); 1948 - merged with Marin Journal, formed Marin Independent Journal; December 7, 1979 - acquired by Gannett; 2000 - acquired by MediaNews group (William Dean Singleton).

January 16, 1865 -Charles and Michael de Young (19 and 17) founded Daily Dramatic Chronicle in San Francisco with a borrowed $20 gold piece; circulation: 2,000; San Francisco population: 60,000; September 1, 1868 - changed name to Morning Chronicle; July 27, 2000 - Hearst Corporation acquired The Chronicle from The Chronicle Publishing Company.

Charles and Michael de Young - San Francisco Chronicle (http://www.sfmuseum.org/ photos14/deyoungbros.jpg)

October 10, 1868 - Colonel William Jeff Gatewood, lawyer and publisher of the San Andreas Register, partner Edward W. Bushyhead, San Andreas miner and printer (retired June 1873), J. N. Briseno, printer, published first edition of San Diego Union (4 pages on hand press) at 2626 San Diego Avenue, Old Town; 1886 - acquired by San Diego Union Co.; 1890 - acquired by John D. and Adolph B. Spreckels; December 2, 1895 - T.D. Beasley, F.E.A. Kimball published first issue of The Evening Tribune as daily paper; 1901 - acquired by John D. Spreckels; 1928 - acquired from Spreckels estate by Ira Clifton Copley (The Copley Press Inc. of Illinois); February 2, 1992 - two newspapers merged, formed San Diego Union-Tribune; oldest business in San Diego County, second-oldest newspaper in Southern California.

Edward W. Bushyhead - San Diego Union (http://www.sandiegohistory.org/bio/ bushyhead/images/11856.jpg)

February 1, 1873 -  Jesse Yarnell, T. J. Caystile and Samuel J. Mathes published Los Angeles Weekly Mirror advertising sheet; printed by Mirror Printing Office and Book Bindery; December 4, 1881 - Nathan Cole Jr. & Thomas Gardiner launched Los Angeles Daily Times, went bankrupt; January 1, 1882 - Mathes assumed editorial control;  August 1, 1882 - former Union army lieutenant colonel Harrison Gray Otis assumed Times editorship and part control ( bought a quarter interest in Los Angels Daily Times for $6,000); October 1884 - acquired holdings of Yarnell, A.W. Francisco; Colonel Henry H. Boyce acquired Mathes's interest; gained control of Mirror and Mirror's printing company; incorporated Times-Mirror Company; 1886 - Otis bought Boyce's half-interest in paper, named himself president, general manager, editor-in-chief;  1891 - Weekly Mirror incorporated with Saturday Times, became Los Angeles Saturday Times & Weekly Mirror; 1965 - first newspaper to publish over 4 million classified advertisements in one year, first US newspaper to publish over 100 million lines of advertising in year; 1970 - bought controlling interest in Newsday; 1979 - acquired Hartford (Connecticut) Courant; 1980 - acquired Denver Post for $95 million; 1986 - acquired Baltimore Sun, Evening Sun, WMAR-TV for $600 million;  June 2000 - acquired by Tribune Company (Chicago Tribune) in $8.3 billion takeover.

February 21, 1874 - George Stanford and Benet A. Dewes founded Oakland Daily Tribune as 6" by 10", four-page daily; July 24, 1876 -acquired by William E. Dargie; created The Tribune Publishing Company, widened paper's news scope, used newspaper wire services to provide stories from around world; August 28, 1891 - name Oakland Tribune officially adopted; November 14, 1915 - first issue under new publisher, Joseph R. Knowland, former five-term Congressman; January 4, 1928 - founded The Tribune Publishing Corporation; 1977 - acquired by Karl Eller's Combined Communications Corporation; 1979 - acquired by Gannett in merger with Combined; 1983 - acquired for $17 million by Robert C. Maynard, editor; first major metropolitan newspaper owned by an African American; October 15, 1992 - acquired for $10 million by Alameda Newspaper Group, publisher of several competing suburban community newspapers.

April 17, 1879 - First issue of The Sonoma Index published; changed owners 13 times; 1884 - acquired by Harry H. Granice; renamed The Sonoma Index-Tribune; 1915 - Celeste, Ramona (daughters) took over; 1946 - Robert Lynch (grandson, Ramona's son) took over; 2003 - Bill, Jim Lynch (great grandsons) assumed control.

  Harry H. Granice - Sonoma Index-Tribune (http://images.townnews.com/sonomanews.com/content/current/about_us/harry_granice.jpg)

December 4, 1881 - Los Angels Daily Times published first four-page issue.

March 4, 1887 - William Randolph Hearst (23) took over San Francisco Daily Examiner from his father (George acquired paper in October 1880);1895 - bought New York Morning Journal; 1903 - started his first magazine, Motor; 1905 - bought Cosmopolitan; 1911 - acquired Good Housekeeping;  1915 - formed King Features Syndicate to consolidate comics syndication business; 1929 - started Hearst Metrotone News (newsreel company); 1948 - acquired WBAL-TV (Baltimore), one of country's first TV stations; 1965 - Examiner and San Francisco Chronicle printed, distributed under joint operating agreement (JOA); 1997 - formed Hearst-Argyle Television, nation's second largest non-network-owned television station group; August 6, 1999 - acquired San Francisco Chronicle; 2007 - 20,0000 employees, six operating groups; world's largest publisher of monthly magazines.

November 11, 1887 - Richard Gird, founder City of Chino, founded The Chino Champion newspaper; prior to 1897 - acquired by Edwin Rhodes; 1906 - sold paper; 1909 - acquired by Ralph Homan (operated local store with his father); 1920 - acquired by Nebraska newspaperman, Elmer Howell Sr. (later joined by Charles Frady, his brother-in-law, nephew E.R. (Bob) Frady; 1949 - 1956 - three publishers; October 1, 1956 - acquired by Allen P. McCombs right out of Navy service (became Chairman of Champion Publications of Chino, Inc., Publisher Emeritus); 1988 - Chino Hills News added; August 4, 1994 - Champion combined its paid and free newspapers into once a week Chino and Chino Hills editions, distributed on Thursday; 2000 - Bruce M. Wood, former Champion general manager, returned as co-publisher; July 2004 - converted to digital pagination; October 7, 2006 - Wood named publisher of Champion Newspapers; oldest continuously operated business in the Chino Valley; one of few independent weekly newspapers left in Southern California.

Richard Gird - The Chino Champion (http://www.championnewspapers. com/ about/images/ Richard%20Gird.jpg)

June 3, 1888 - San Francisco Daily Examiner published Ernest Lawrence Thayer's poem ''Casey at the Bat.''

May 1898 - Southern Pacific Railroad, largest landowner in California, launched first-ever Western magazine, Sunset Magazine (named in honor of Sunset Limited railroad line) to "chronicle the world of the West over which the dawn of future commercial and industrial importance is just beginning"; first issue contained just 16 pages, ran stories on wonders of Yosemite, beautiful, garden-filled streets of Los Angeles; made good things about Western living seem accessible, possible for masses; 1928 - acquired by Lane Publishing Co.; 1990- acquired by Time Warner.

1908 - Stanley Larson founded The Claremont Courier in Claremont, CA; 1929 - 1954 - newspaper delivered in Model A; 1955 - acquired by Martin and Janis Weinberger.

November 6, 1935 - The Clear Lake Observer debuted; 1944 - merged with Clear Lake American; published since as Clear Lake Observer*American; 2001 - acquired by Denver-based Media News Group.

February 14, 1938 - Hedda Hopper's first gossip column appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

January 8, 1941 - William Randolph Hearst, owner of the Hearst newspaper chain, forbid any of his newspapers from accepting ads for Orson Welles's Citizen Kane movie; film generally interpreted as psychological study of Hearst, portrayed as fictional Charles Foster Kane. March 1941 - Welles threatened to sue Hearst for trying to suppress film, RKO if it failed to release film.; May 1, 1941 - film premiered at RKO Palace in New York; became one of most highly regarded films of all time.

1983 - Editor Robert C. Maynard bought the Oakland Tribune from the Gannett Company in a $22 million management-led leveraged buyout, the first in U.S. newspaper history; became the first major metropolitan newspaper owned by an African American.

March 12, 2006 - Knight Ridder (San Jose CA), second largest newspaper company in the U.S., $3 billion in sales, 16.4% operating profit margin and publisher of 32 daily newspapers, agreed to be acquired for about $4.5 billion by the McClatchy Company (Sacramento, CA), $1.2 billion in revenue, 22.8 % operating profit margin and publisher of 12 dailies; 2000 - in contrast Times Mirror Co. acquired the Tribune company for $8 billion.

(Colt Press), William Matson Roth (2004). The Colt Springs High A Publishing Memoir of the Colt Press 1938-1942. (San Francisco, CA: The Book Club of California). Colt Press; Roth, William Matson; Grabhorn , Jane. Collaboration with Jane Grabhorn on unique publishing venture called Colt Press; pre-war era in San Francisco full of literary ferment, printing innovation, irrepressible spirit of fun.

(Hearst), John K. Winkler (1928). W.R. Hearst, an American Phenomenon. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 354 p.). Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951; Journalism--United States.

(Hearst), John W. Tebbel (1952). The Life and Good Times of William Randolph Hearst. (New York, NY: Dutton, 386 p.). William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951).

(Hearst), John K. Winkler (1955). William Randolph Hearst, a New Appraisal. (New York, NY: Hastings House, 325 p.). Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951.

(Hearst), W. A. Swanberg (1961). Citizen Hearst, A Biography of William Randolph Hearst. (New York, NY: Scribner, 555 p.). Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951; Publishers and publishing--United States--Biography; Newspaper publishing--United States--History.

(Hearst), Oliver Carlson and Ernest Sutherland Bates (1970). Hearst, Lord of San Simeon. (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 332 p.). Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951; Publishers and publishing--United States--Biography; Newspaper publishing--United States--History; Hearst-San Simeon State Historical Monument (Calif.).

(Hearst), Ferdinand Lundberg With a preface by Charles A. Beard (1970). Imperial Hearst; a Social Biography. (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 406 p. [Reprint 1936 ed.]). Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951; Publishers and publishing--United States--Biography; Newspaper publishing--United States--History.

(Hearst), Mrs. Fremont Older. With a foreword by Fremont Older (1972). William Randolph Hearst, American. (Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 581 p. [orig. pub. 1936]). Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951; Publishers and publishing--United States--Biography; Newspaper publishing--United States--History.

(Hearst), Rodney P. Carlisle (1979). Hearst and the New Deal--The Progressive as Reactionary. (New York, NY: Garland Pub., 228 p.). Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951; New Deal, 1933-1939; Publishers and publishing--United States--Biography; Newspaper publishing--United States--History; United States--Politics and government--1933-1945.

(Hearst), Roy Everett Littlefield III (1980). William Randolph Hearst, His Role in American Progressivism. (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 391 p.). Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951; Publishers and publishing--United States--Biography; Newspaper publishing--United States--History; Progressivism (United States politics); United States--Politics and government--1865-1933.

(Hearst), Lindsay Chaney, Michael Cieply (1981). The Hearsts: Family and Empire: The Later Years. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 410 p.). Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951 --Family; Hearst family; Hearst Corporation; Publishers and publishing--United States--Biography; Newspaper publishing--United States--History--20th century.

(Hearst), Judith Robinson (1991). The Hearsts: An American Dynasty. (Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press, 441 p.). Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951 --Family; Hearst family; Publishers and publishing--United States--Biography; Newspaper publishing--United States--History.

(Hearst), William Randolph Hearst, Jr. with Jack Casserly (1991). The Hearsts: Father and Son. (Niwot, CO: Roberts Rinehart, 372 p.). Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951; Hearst, William Randolph, 1908- ; Publishers and publishing--United States--Biography; Newspaper publishing--United States--History; Journalists--United States--Biography.

(Hearst), Ian Mugridge (1995). The Vew from Xanadu: William Randolph Hearst and United States Foreign Policy. (Montreal, QU: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 220 p.). Hearst, William Randolph 1863-1951 --Influence; Publishers and publishing--United States--Biography; Press and politics--United States--History--20th century.

(Hearst), Ben Procter (1998). William Randolph Hearst: The Early Years, 1863-1910. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 345 p.). Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951; Publishers and publishing--United States--Biography; Newspaper publishing--United States--History--19th century; Newspaper publishing--United States--History--20th century.

(Hearst), David Nasaw (2000). The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 687 p.). Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951; Publishers and publishing--United States--Biography; Newspaper publishing--United States--History--19th century; Newspaper publishing--United States--History--20th century. Winner of Bancroft Prize and the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize.  

(Hearst), John F. Dunlap (2002). The Hearst Saga: The Way It Really Was. (Medford, OR: J.F. Dunlap, 923 p.). Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951 --Family; Hearst family; Hearst, George, 1820-1891; Hearst, Phoebe Apperson, 1842-191.; Davies, Marion, 1897-1961; Publishers and publishing--United States--Biography; Newspaper publishing--United States--Biography.

(Hearst), Louis Pizzitola (2002). Hearst Over Hollywood: Power, Passion, and Propaganda in the Movies. (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, p.). Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951; Motion picture producers and directors--United States--Biography; Publishers and publishing--United States--Biography; Motion picture industry--California--Los Angeles--History.

(Hearst), Cathleen Black (2007). Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life). (New York, NY: Crown, 304 p.). Head of Hearst Magazines. Black, Cathie; Career development; Interpersonal communication; Success in business; Publishers and publishing--Vocational guidance.How she achieved "the 360° life" (blend of professional accomplishment, personal contentment); how women can seize opportunity in workplace.

(http://www.sfmuseum.org/ photos14/wrh.jpg)

(Investor's Business Daily), David Saito-Chung (2004). Investor's Business Daily and the Making of Millionaires: How IBD Rewrote the Rules of Investing and Business News. (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 162 p.). Investor's Business Daily; Journalism, Commercial--United States.

(San Francisco Chronicle), Anonymous (2007). The San Francisco Chronicle and Its History. The Story of Its Foundation, the Struggles of Its Early Life, Its Well-Earned Successes. The New Chronicle Building, the Edifice and Machinery Described, Comments of the Press. (Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 60 p. [orig. pub. 1879]). The San Francisco Chronicle.

(Talisman Press), Robert Greenwood (2007). A Valiant Enterprise, A History of the Talisman Press, 1951-1993, Printers, Publishers, and Antiquarian Booksellers. (San Francisco, CA: The Book Club of California, 383 p.). Co-Founder, Talisman Press. Talisman Press, Greenwood, Robert; Baird, Newton. Evolution of book-related adventures of Robert Greenwood, Newton Baird, founders - quarterly poetry magazine (1952), publishing (1958), discovering 'ghost' book, establishing non-profit arm (Talisman Literary Research), becoming book dealers.

(Times Mirror), Robert Gottlieb and Irene Wolt (1977). Thinking Big: The Story of the Los Angeles Times, Its Publishers, and Their Influence on Southern California. (New York, NY: Putnam, 603 p.). Los Angeles times.

(Times Mirror), Jack R. Hart (1981). The Information Empire: The Rise of the Los Angeles Times and the Times Mirror Corporation. (Washington, DC: University Press of America, 410 p.). Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles times.

(Times Mirror), Marshall Berges (1984). The Life and Times of Los Angeles: A Newspaper, a Family, and a City. (New York, NY: Atheneum, 304 p.). Los Angeles Times.

(Times Mirror), Andrew Krieg (1988). Spiked: How Chain Management Corrupted America's Oldest Newspaper. (Old Saybrook, CT: Peregrine Press, 245 p. [2nd ed.]). Times Mirror company--History; Hartford courant--History; American newspapers--Ownership; Press monopolies--United States--History; Investigative reporting--United States; American newspapers--Objectivity.

(Times Mirror), Dennis McDougal (2001). Privileged Son: Otis Chandler and the Rise and Fall of the L.A. Times Dynasty. (Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing, 526 p.). Former Reporter (Los Angeles Times). Times Mirror company--History; Los Angeles Times.

(Times Miiror), Margaret Leslie Davis (2007). The Culture Broker: Franklin D. Murphy and the Transformation of Los Angeles. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 490 p.). Murphy, Franklin D., 1916-; University of California, Los Angeles -- Officials and employees -- Biography; Times Mirror Company -- Officials and employees -- Biography; Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Biography; Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Cultural policy; Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Civilization -- 20th century; Arts -- California -- Los Angeles -- History -- 20th century; Museums -- California -- Los Angeles -- History -- 20th century; Cosmopolitanism -- California -- Los Angeles -- History -- 20th century; Charities -- California -- Los Angeles -- History -- 20th century. Influenced academia, media, cultural foundations to reshape  fundamentally provincial city.

Harrison Gray Otis - Times Mirror (http://www.erbzine.com/ mag10/otis.jpg)

 

 

 

 

 

Harry Chandler - Times Mirror (http://www.titansoffortune.com/ images2/site2/titans/new/ ChandlerHarry.jpg)