Patriot-News delivers for 150 years

Presses roll through mergers, moves, change
Mary O. Bradley of The Patriot-News
Printed: Sunday, March 7, 2004

Born in controversy, tempered by adversity, empowered by the First Amendment, melded by mergers, conscious of the public trust and formed of intertwining DNA strands of journalism, business and community service, The Patriot-News today is the sum of what has gone before and the promise of what is to come.

The official birth of The Patriot-News is celebrated as March 4, 1854, but its history goes back to December 1820 and a weekly, The Pennsylvania Intelligencer.

Between 1820 and 1854, nearly a dozen more newspapers appeared on the scene, including The Pennsylvania Reporter, The Pennsylvania Reporter and Mechanics Journal, The Democratic Herald, the Home Journal, The Citizens' Soldier, The Reporter and Democratic Herald, the Democratic State Journal, The State Capital Gazette, The Keystone and the Morning Herald and Harrisburg Daily. The newspapers consolidated and/or folded until 1854, when the Democratic Union was being published by George M. Lauman.

According to the "Dauphin County Historical Atlas of 1875," the Democratic Union was "suspected of undue devotion to the personal aspirations of Simon Cameron," the political powerhouse who had been elected U.S. senator to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of James Buchanan after Buchanan was appointed U.S. secretary of state in 1845. Buchanan was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 1852 and served as minister to Great Britain 1853-56. He was president 1857-61.

Cameron served as U.S. senator from March 13, 1845, to March 3, 1849, and later was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate, serving from March 4, 1857, to March 4, 1861, when he was appointed secretary of war by President Abraham Lincoln.

Because of the Democratic Union's support of Cameron, Andrew Hopkins established The Daily Patriot in 1854, "probably to advance the political interests of James Buchanan and certainly to oppose the course of the [Democratic] Union in its support of General Cameron," according to the atlas, which was reprinted in 1985 by Dauphin County commissioners.

Lauman sold the Union to Jacob Zeigler in early 1855 and later that year the newspapers were consolidated under the title of The Daily Patriot and Union and published by Hopkins. The Patriot and Union was a weekly paper, going semiweekly during legislative sessions.

After Hopkins withdrew from the Patriot and Union, it became the property of O. Barrett & Co. with R.J. Haldeman as editor.

A number of publishers followed. In 1868, the Patriot and Union was sold to Benjamin F. Meyers, John W. Brown and D.W. Moore who changed its name to the Morning Patriot. In 1875 it was renamed the Harrisburg Daily Patriot, and in 1890, it became The Patriot. A year later, Meyers sold his interest to D.A. and D.W. Orr of Chambersburg.

Meyers purchased two other Harrisburg newspapers, the Star and the Independent, which he merged under the title of the Star-Independent. The Orrs sold The Patriot to The Patriot Co. on Aug. 1, 1902. Vance C. McCormick, later elected Harrisburg mayor, was president.

McCormick's major rival newspaper was the Harrisburg Telegraph, founded in 1831 as the Harrisburg Weekly Telegraph by Theophilus Fenn. It succeeded the Statesman, founded three years earlier by John McChord.

Fenn and James A. Wallace operated the Telegraph from July 1840 to 1843 when Fenn took over and ran it alone until 1849, when Fenn & Rea, followed by Fenn, Rea & Co., then Fenn & Beerbower became the owners successively.

In November 1853, the Telegraph was sold to John J. Patterson, who merged it with the Whig State Journal, founded in 1850 by John J. Clyde. In 1853, the Telegraph absorbed two newspapers: the Daily American which George Bergner had founded, and the Daily Times, whose founder was the distinguished Dauphin County historian, Dr. William H. Egle.

By 1856, the owners were Patterson, Clyde and Stephen Miller. They sold the Telegraph to the prominent journalist and founder of the Philadelphia Times, Alexander McClure, and James Sellers, who began issuing it semiweekly as an eight-page newspaper.

On Aug. 28, 1856, George Bergner became part owner with editorial duties under the direction of Patterson and McClure. The Telegraph was published as a weekly, except during legislative sessions when it was printed semiweekly.

The first issue of the Daily Telegraph was printed Oct. 7, 1856. "The struggle of the 'Daily' for existence was a long and doubtful one; but success came at last as a reward for industry, sacrifice, and courage as it usually does, and the doubtful venture was an established success, both politically and financially," according to the "Dauphin County Historical Atlas of 1875."

Bergner became sole proprietor of the Telegraph on March 20, 1861. By 1875, the Telegraph had a daily circulation of 6,000 and a weekly press run of 3,000.

Bergner's son, Charles H. Bergner, was publisher from 1874 to 1882 with Thomas F. Wilson as editor.

In 1873, work was started on a spacious office building and printing plant for the Telegraph on the northwest corner of Third and Market streets, Harrisburg. Finished in 1874, the Bergner Building was described in the 1875 historical atlas as "an imposing structure" unsurpassed between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. (The building was razed in 1996 as part of the site clearance for Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts.)

The Harrisburg Telegraph Co. acquired the Telegraph in January 1882 with the same publisher and editor until October 1883 when Matthias W. McAlarney bought Wilson's interest and installed A.C. Nutt as managing editor.

This arrangement continued until the death of McAlarney in 1900. That year, the Harrisburg Publishing Co., corporate name of the owner, was acquired by E.J. Stackpole, who for some years previously had been the Telegraph's aggressive Capitol Hill correspondent.

Stackpole, a native of McVeytown, came to Harrisburg after experience on the McVeytown Journal and the Orbisonia Dispatch. He also had served a term as a state legislator.

Before joining the editorial staff, Stackpole had been an assistant foreman. From reporter, he advanced to the city desk, Capitol Hill correspondent and finally publisher and editor.

From 1901 until Stackpole's death in 1936, the Telegraph was the reflection of its editor and publisher. Succeeding him were his sons, Edward J. and Albert H., both of whom distinguished themselves in World Wars I and II.

In April 1910, the Telegraph moved from the Bergner Building to a newly built, seven-story office building at the northeast corner of Locust and Court streets. (Amid much controversy, the building was razed in 1978.)

Early in 1917, the Telegraph, now an afternoon newspaper, purchased Meyers' Star-Independent, another afternoon newspaper, and discontinued its publication. As a result, McCormick founded The Evening News which published its first issue Feb. 15, 1917.

From 1933 to 1937, the Telegraph printed a tabloid newspaper, the Morning Telegraph, to compete with The Patriot.

When McCormick died June 16, 1946, at the age of 74, the Telegraph asked to bid on The Patriot and The Evening News, but Mrs. Vance McCormick denied the request, stating she did not feel the newspaper should be sold to her late husband's competitor.

With the backing of newspaper publisher Samuel I. Newhouse of New York, Edwin F. Russell of Far Hills, N.J., former associate publisher of the Newark Star-Ledger, was the successful bidder for The Patriot and The Evening News. Sale price was $2.5 million. The ownership was transferred Aug. 25, 1947.

Russell, who charted the course of the modern-day Patriot-News, was just 33 years old when he came to Harrisburg. "I just came out of the war. I was reckless. I had an opportunity and it worked out well," he said in an interview. One of Russell's first moves was to acquire the Telegraph. On March 27, 1948, E.J. Stackpole's son, Gen. Albert H. Stackpole, publisher, said that economic factors led to the decision to sell the Telegraph. While the newspaper was popular with readers and advertisers, "post-war economic factors have grown increasingly burdensome," Stackpole said at the time.

The Telegraph's name and features were sold to The Patriot and The Evening News. Many of the Telegraph's features were shifted to The Patriot to lighten up the staid newspaper. The Evening News had a reputation for lively headlines, use of photographs and syndicated entertainment feature material.

Russell also spearheaded the creation of The Sunday Patriot-News. "It was obvious that Harrisburg could support a Sunday newspaper," Russell said. "The merchants were very eager for it. We had a good shot." The first edition rolled off the presses Sept. 18, 1949.

Since its founding, The Patriot has had six homes. It was established in a two-story residence at 214 N. Second St. Then it moved to a building at the southeast corner of Third and Strawberry streets.

About 1875, The Patriot moved to Third and Locust streets. When the government bought that location for the Federal Square Post Office, The Patriot relocated to Market and Dewberry streets, a site that later would house Doutrich's men's and boys' clothing store.

On March 17, 1906, The Patriot moved to Market Square, occupying a small space in a four-story building at 11 N. Second St. Eventually, The Patriot-News filled the entire building, later adding a fifth floor.

As the newspapers' circulation continued to grow, so did the shortcomings of the plant on Market Square. Like most business houses in the city, the Patriot building was narrow and deep. Originally constructed as an office building, it had to be retrofitted for the newspaper office and printing plant.

"There was no air conditioning," Russell said. "If we opened the windows, the copy flew out. The press was old and slow and certainly would not accommodate the larger newspapers we anticipated printing."

In November 1950, Russell announced plans for a $2.5 million plant at 812 Market St. along with a realignment of interests that would give Samuel Newhouse a greater share in The Patriot-News ownership.

The old press in the plant on Market Square was capable of producing 30,000 48-page newspapers an hour. If newspapers had more pages, the press had to be run at half speed. The eight-unit Hoe press installed at 812 Market St. in 1953 delivered 64-page newspapers at the rate of 44,000 an hour.

The newspaper moved from Market Square to 812 Market St. over the July Fourth holiday weekend in 1953. The last newspaper published in the old plant was the July 5, 1953, edition of The Sunday Patriot-News. The building was sold to Miller's Furniture. (Hilton Harrisburg & Towers now stands on the site.)

The 1953 press was replaced in 1970 by a $2 million, 10-unit Hoe Colormatic press that produced 72,000 copies an hour. Two years later, the press was inundated by floodwater from Tropical Storm Agnes.

From the time construction began at the plant at 812 Market St., water has been a problem. Excavating to a depth of 20 feet -- 10 feet below the water table -- caused a substantial volume of water to fill the hole.

During construction, pumps worked 24-hours a day to keep the hole dry while workmen poured the four-foot thick basement floor, 18-inch reinforced concrete side walls and the first-floor concrete. The plant was designed to repel groundwater and a flood one foot higher than the 1936 flood level of 29.23 feet recorded March 19.

In 1972, floodwater from Tropical Storm Agnes forced the cancellation of the printing of the June 22 edition of The Evening News and the June 23 edition of The Patriot. On June 24, 1972, at the Naugle Street gauge in Shipoke, the water crested at 32.57 feet. (Flood stage is 17 feet.)

In the Patriot-News subbasement, 28 feet of the press was under water. More than 1,200 tons of newsprint -- a 40-day supply -- were in the building, about 30 rolls already threaded on the press for The Evening News.

Newsprint swells when wet and, after the water was pumped out, the rolls of newsprint had to be cut off the press with chain saws. Water rose into the first floor which is several feet above ground level.

Damage exceeded $2 million.

While parts to repair the press were being flown in from all over the country, The Patriot-News was back on the streets June 28 with a flood edition printed at the Allentown Call-Chronicle plant. The Chambersburg Public Opinion also assisted in printing newspapers until the Patriot-News plant was up and running.

The July 13, 1972, edition of The Patriot was the first printed at 812 Market St. after the flood. The Evening News resumed the same day.

Of the flood damage, Russell said, "I was certain we would recover, but at a considerable cost of effort. Each one of the Patriot-News employees was a hero, and our readers were tolerant."

On July 7, 1968, Russell was appointed president and chairman of The Patriot-News. John H. Baum was named publisher and vice president. Baum had joined The Patriot-News retail advertising department after graduating from Gettysburg College in 1939.

Baum died Sept. 16, 1981, at age 63, and Raymond L. Gover, publisher of The Saginaw (Mich.) News and a veteran of 30 years in journalism, assumed the reins as publisher of The Patriot-News. The appointment was effective Sept. 21, 1981.

In a management shift on July 1, 1997, Gover was named president, and Russell remained chairman. John A. Kirkpatrick, The Patriot-News editor since April 15, 1991, assumed the additional role of publisher.

Kirkpatrick, who began his journalism career in 1974 at The Hanover Evening Sun, was assisting managing editor for news at the San Francisco Examiner when he resigned to come to Harrisburg.

On Dec. 31, 2000, Gover retired after a 50-year journalism career. Kirkpatrick took on the added responsibility of president. David Newhouse was named executive editor March 26, 2001.

An era ended at The Patriot-News on Dec. 22, 2001, when Russell, chairman of the board, died in Hobe Sound, Fla., after having a leadership role since 1947. He was 87.

An exciting new chapter in The Patriot-News history began with the opening of a $50 million, 142,000-square-foot printing plant on an 18-acre tract in the Cumberland Technology Park off Wertzville Road in Hampden Twp. The plant was designed by GSI Architects of Cleveland.

The star of the new plant is a seven-tower, five-story high Colorliner press by Goss Graphic Systems of Westmont, Ill. It is capable of printing 75,000, six-section newspapers an hour.

The editorial, accounting, advertising, business, circulation and marketing departments remain at 812 Market St. Data to produce press plates is transmitted to the new plant via fiber-optic lines.

For 150 years, from President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to President George W. Bush's State of the Union address, from the Civil War to civil strife, from Teapot Dome to Three Mile Island, from the Earth to the moon, through war and peace, the Cold War and hot trends, energy to entertainment, telegraph to television, terror at Pearl Harbor and terrorism on the home front, The Patriot-News has reported and recorded the joy and despair of life's individual moments and humanity's collective experience.