Journalism, Provo History

A Salute to 106 Years Of Provo Newspapering

Click to see original imageThe Provo Daily Timer, great ancestor of The Daily Herald, made its appearance 106 years ago today – Aug. 1, 1873.

It wasn’t much of a newspaper by present standards. Four pages, tabloid size… carrying very little news. Mostly small ads, poetry, anecdotes, directories – and even a “fish story.”

But it marked the beginning of serious newspapering in Provo.

Interestingly. Vol. 1. No. 1 of the Times is reserved on microfilm in the Provo City Library. It’s splotched a bit.. obviously having been aged and somewhat battered before steps for preservation were taken. But it’s still readable. A few pertinent bits of intelligence gathered from the front page:

Abraham 0. Smoot was mayor of Provo; George W. Bean was probate judge and L. John Nuttall was both county recorder and county clerk. The territorial governor was George L. Woods. The postage rate for a letter mailed any place in the United States was 3 cents. The wagon and buggy business was prospering.

Small ads disclosed that the Provo House, with Isaac Bullock proprietor, was the “oldest established hotel” in Provo; the Deseret National Bank in Salt Lake City had a paid-up capital of $200,000 and you could deal in gold dust, coin, exchange, warrants, or college scrip; F. H. Simmons. M.D. was a resident physician and surgeon here; D. S. Dana, a Provo attorney, gave “especial attention” to mining litigation; you could get “best wines, liquors and cigars” at the Railroad Saloon in American Fork.

Provo had about 2500 inhabitants when the Provo Daily Times was founded by four transplanted Salt Lake printers – Robert G. Sleater, Oscar F. Lyons, and Joseph T. and Robert T. McEwan, brothers.

The Times office was a small adobe building at 154 W. Center in a rather sparse business district with unpaved streets dotted with weeds and mud puddles.

A few glimpses into 1873:

Ulysses S. Grant was president of the United States. The railroad, linked at Promontory in 1869 was edging toward Provo with the Utah Southern to reach the city a few months after the Times began publication; the telegraph had arrived in 1868, but Provo still lacked many of the city facilities of today. There were no paved streets; electricity and the first fire department didn’t come until 1890 and it was 1891 when the contract was let for the first waterworks system.

The Times went tri-weekly April 4, 1874 and changed the name to Utah County Times Sept. 1 that year. It ceased publication near the close of 1875. Soon afterward, the Utah County Advertiser was launched by two of the four original partners, Sleater and Joseph McEwan. They discontinued this paper after six months and established the semi-weekly Utah County Enquirer July 4, 1876.

John C. Graham, early-day figure in Utah journalism and dramatics, took over ownership Sept. 5, 1877 to begin a 29-year publishing career that closed with his death March 18, 1906. He revised the name of the Enquirer successively to the Territorial Enquirer, Utah Enquirer, and Daily Enquirer.

When the Hicks brothers – Nephi C. and Heber C. – purchased the paper after Graham’s death they changed the name to the Provo Post.

Meantime, the Utah County Democrat a newspaper of destiny, entered the Provo newspaper scene Aug. 31. 1898. ON JAN. 2, 1909 it dropped the “party paper” label for independent status and took the name, Provo Herald.

The Herald, which published as a semi-weekly and tri-weekly, went daily April 17, 1922. It purchased its competitor, the Post, in a merger two years later, the last issue of the Post being May 9, 1924. Old-timers may recall that the surviving daily was known as The Evening Herald from 1925 to 1939. The name was changed permanently to The Daily Herald May 22, 1939.

Besides the newspapers mentioned above, a number of others came and went – especially late in the 19th Century when an aspiring publisher needed little more than a hand press and a few fonts of type to set up in business.

Papers like the American, the Gazette, the Dispatch, the Journal, the Provo Press, and the Utonian did not figure in the Herald’s genealogy but had their fling (though brief in most cases) on the local journalist firmament.

As editor or managing editor of The Daily Herald for the last 30 years, the writer has had a ringside seat on the struggles, growth, and development of the Herald in modern times.

Our newspaper of today – with its beautiful offices and plant and continually-modernizing production technology – is a far cry from the Provo Daily Times of 1873.

It didn’t happen over night. A great many dedicated men and women have had a hand in building the paper through the years. Much credit must go to the Scripps League Newspapers, with whom the Herald has been associated since 1926, along with the publishers – particularly L. B. Tackett and our present publisher B. E. (Bye) Jensen who have presided during the modern eras of dramatic growth.

On this 106th anniversary of newspapering in Provo I take this opportunity to salute members of the Herald team, past and present, in all departments – business and advertising, newsroom and photography, composing and press rooms, and the folks in circulation.

There are challenges ahead to be sure; new frontiers to conquer – vastly different than the founders of Provo Daily Times faced in 1873, but real nevertheless. For in this fascinating business, you can never relax and rest on your laurels. Challenge and improvement are the eternal watchwords.