The Union (newspaper)

History

The Union began publication as the Grass Valley Daily Morning Union on October 28, 1864. Jim Townsend and Henry Meyer Blumenthal founded the paper to support the Union cause and the re-election of Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.

Although the paper was founded for the purpose of supporting Lincoln's candidacy, Townsend immediately tried to sell the venture to a rival newspaper that supported the candidacy of George B. McClellan, Lincoln's Democratic Party rival. Blumenthal ousted Townsend and continued supporting Lincoln. The day before the election, a group of men led by John Rollin Ridge went to the offices of the newspaper and assaulted Blumenthal. One report states that Ridge committed the assault. In the 21st century, the newspaper identifies Blumenthal as the founder of the newspaper. Every issue in later years has carried the motto "Founded in 1864 to Preserve The Union - One and Inseparable."

Charles H. Mitchell became the owner around 1867. He published the paper for close to three decades until selling it to William P. Calkins and James C. Tyrrell in March 1893. A few months later William F. Prisk purchased the paper on June 13, 1893. Under his leadership, The Union became the first “country” newspaper in California to become an Associated Press wire service affiliate. The Union incorporated in 1906. Thomas Ingram started working for the paper in the 1890s as an apprentice in the printing department and worked his way up to managing editor. The Ingram family purchased the newspaper in 1946.

Scripps League Newspapers bought the paper in 1967. Pioneer Newspapers split off from Scripps in 1975 and took the Union with it. Pioneer merged with Swift Newspapers in 1982 and the Union eventually came under the management of Swift Communications. In November 2021, Ogden Newspapers acquired Swift, and then sold the Union in June 2022 to Gold Hill California Media.

Delivery

The Union was a morning paper since 1864 until switching to evening delivery in 1945. It switched back in 1999. In March 2024, the newspaper announced it was switching from carrier to postal delivery.

Headquarters

In 1906, The Union moved down the street from its original location at the southwest corner of Mill and West Main streets to "The Union", a building at 151 Mill Street, Grass Valley. In 1978, the paper moved from downtown to its current location at 464 Sutton Way, Grass Valley.

References

References

1. Chalmers, Claudia. (2006). "Images of America: Grass Valley". [[Arcadia Publishing]].
2. (November 8, 1864). "An Infamous Attempt To Sell Out A Union Paper". Daily Miner-Transcript.
3. Reynolds, Donna. (April 25, 2014). "Finding The Union newspaper's founder, hero". The Union.
4. Ackerman, Jeff. (2003-10-26). "The Union: 139 years old today".
5. (February 24, 1867). "Personal.". Daily Miner-Transcript.
6. (March 10, 1893). "The Grass Valley Union Sold.". Daily Miner-Transcript.
7. (March 18, 1893). "Notice". Woodland Daily Democrat.
8. (Jun 15, 1893). "Notice". The Sacramento Bee.
9. "William F. Prisk".
10. (February 22, 1906). "Grass Valley Union Has Been Incoperated". Feather River Bulletin.
11. (March 3, 1967). "The Union Ownership Changes". The Union.
12. (December 1, 1975). "Scripps League splits papers". The Capitol Journal.
13. (January 22, 1982). "Pioneer, Swift newspaper firms merge". Nevada State Journal.
14. Rogers, Don. "Don Rogers: New owner, same mission". The Union.
15. Miller, Scott. (2021-11-30). "Parent company of Vail Daily sells to Ogden Newspapers".
16. (June 2, 2022). "The Union sold to Gold Hill California Media". The Union.
17. (June 15, 1915). "G. V. Newspaper Will Shift to Evening Edition". The Chico Enterprise.
18. (December 5, 2014). "Timeline of events: 1981-1999".
19. Wingo, Chad. (2024-03-09). "The Union newspaper's daily print edition to switch to mail delivery April 2nd".
20. (2014-07-17). "Nevada County Timeline: 1893 – 1922".