The Grand Rapids Press

History

The Morning Press was founded by William J. Sproat and appeared on Monday, September 1, 1890. Sproat was its proprietor until November 5, 1891, when control passed to the Press Publishing company. Soon after, the controlling interest in the company was purchased by George G. Booth, who in 1892 bought the rival Grand Rapids Eagle and merged it with the Press. January 1, 1893, the Press went into the evening daily field, which it has since occupied.

This newspaper at first was published at 63 Pearl Street. Then for a number of years it occupied a building on the Grand River at the southeast end of the Pearl Street bridge. In 1906 it moved to a new home at Fulton Street and Sheldon Avenue.

The paper was published downtown at the corner of Monroe and Michigan until 2004 when the printing facility was moved to the northern suburb of Walker. The Walker facility was closed in October, 2020, and sold in 2021 to an industrial contracting firm. The newspaper is now printed in Cleveland, OH, at the same facility that prints the Plain Dealer. The editorial and newsroom offices are now at 169 Monroe Ave. NW, suite 100. They hire aspiring journalists through an internship program.

Home delivery for the Press, Muskegon Chronicle and Kalamazoo Gazette were cut back to Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays in 2012; on the other days in which the Grand Rapids Press is published, subscribers receive an e-edition of that day's newspaper. The print edition of each day's Press continues to be available in newsstands.

References

Bibliography

• Etten, William J., A Citizens' History of Grand Rapids, Michigan

References

1. (2022-02-01). "2022-2023 Michigan Press Association Member Directory".
2. (July 15, 2020). "71 lose jobs as MLive closes Grand Rapids-area printing facility.". [[MLive Media Group]].
3. (2021-08-28). "Former MLive printing facility in Walker sold to industrial contracting company for $9.75M". MiBiz.com.