Timeline of newspapers in Birmingham
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This is a Timeline of Newspapers in Birmingham, covering the founding, merging, and dissolution of newspapers in the Birmingham District.
19th Century
1845
- The Jones Valley Times began publication.
1847
- The Jones Valley Times ceased publication.
1849
- The Central Alabamian was published for a single year.
1850
- Tuscaloosa merchant John Cantley established the Elyton Herald.
1871
- Robert Henley purchased the Elyton Herald and renamed it the Birmingham Sun.
- Thomas McLaughlin and James Matthews purchased the Sun and renamed it The Jefferson Independent.
1874
- February 12: The Birmingham Iron Age published its first edition.
1881
- W.C. Garrett and R.H. Thornton purchased the Independent(?), changed the name to The Daily Birmingham Age and began daily publication for the first time.
1884
- May 1: The Birmingham Iron Age became The Weekly Iron Age.
1887
- August 3: Rufus Rhodes began publishing The Daily Herald.
1888
- March 14: After leaving the Hearld, Rufus Rhodes began publishing The Evening News.
- November 8: The Daily Birmingham Age and Daily Herald merged to form The Birmingham Age-Herald.
1889
- The Evening News became The Daily News.
1895
- The Daily News became The Birmingham News.
1896
- The Birmingham Age-Herald was sold to rival The Daily State and became the Daily State Herald.
1898
- E. W. Barrett bought the Daily State Herald and changed the name back to The Birmingham Age-Herald.
20th Century
1910
- Upon Rufus Rhodes' death, Victor Hanson bought The Birmingham News.
1921
- January: Ed Leech and Scripps-Howard launched The Birmingham Post.
1927
- Victor Hanson purchased the Age-Herald, publishing it in the morning and The Birmingham News in the evenings. On Sundays, a joint Birmingham News Age-Herald edition was distributed.
1928
- The Shades Valley Times began publication, covering Homewood.
1929
- The Shades Valley Times ceased publication.
- The Homewood Herald began publication.
1945
- March: Victor Hanson died. His nephew, Clarence Hanson, Jr, assumed control of the News.
- July 12 to August 14: Publication of the News, Post and Age-Herald were suspended due to a printers' strike.
1950
- May 15: The Post and the Age-Herald merge to become the Birmingham Post-Herald, owned by Scripps-Howard. The new paper had a joint operating agreement with Hanson's News such that circulation, advertising and printing were provided by The Birmingham News Company. The Post-Herald was published Monday through Saturday mornings while the News was published in the evenings and Sunday.
1955
- Newhouse purchased The Birmingham News, but Hanson continued as publisher.
1970
- The North Jefferson News was founded as a weekly.
1983
- The Western Star was founded, covering Bessemmer and western Jefferson County.
1988
- The Homewood Independent began publication.
1996
- August 5: Under the latest extension of their joint operating agreement, the Post-Herald and News switched their morning/evening publication times.
21st Century
2005
- September 23: The final edition of the Post Herald was published as E. W. Scripps (previously Scripps-Howard) closed the paper.
2006
- June 7: The Hoover Gazette began publication.
2007
- August 15: The Hoover Gazette published its final edition.
- The Western Tribune began publication, covering Bessemmer and western Jefferson County.
- The North Jefferson News began publishing twice a week.
2009
- Victor Hanson III retired from the News, marking the end of the Hanson's family century as publisher.