The ''Kirksville Daily Express'' is a bi-weekly newspaper published Wednesday and Saturday. It serves the

Kirksville Kirksville is the county seat and most populous city in Adair County, Missouri. Located in Benton Township, Adair County, Missouri, Benton Township, its population was 17,530 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Kirksville is home to ...

and

Adair County, Missouri Adair County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. The population census for 2020 was 25,314. As of July 1, 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau's Population Estimates for the county is 25,185, a -0.5% change. Adai ...

area including the communities of Brashear and Novinger. It is owned by Phillips Media Group.

History

While newspapers in Adair County date back as early as 1856, the ''Kirksville Daily Express'' had its beginnings in 1901 when the Kirksville ''Evening Express'' was started by N. A. Matlick and J. Orton Rice. In 1906, under the new ownership of C. C. Howard, the name was changed to the ''Kirksville Daily Express''. In November, 1909 Howard sold it to a trio of businessmen led by E. E. Swain. Swain soon bought out his two partners and the newspaper would remain in the Swain family for the next eight decades. Edward Everett Swain, a native of

Ewing, Illinois Ewing is a village in Franklin County, Illinois, Franklin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 307 at the 2010 census. Geography Ewing is located in northern Franklin County at (38.089998, -88.853674). It is northeast of Benton, I ...

had considerable newspaper experience before coming to Kirksville. He previously worked for major publications in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

as well as the

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Dem ...

St. Louis Globe-Democrat The ''St. Louis Globe-Democrat'' was originally a daily print newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1852 until 1986. When the trademark registration on the name expired, it was then used as an unrelated free historically themed paper. Orig ...

and the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

Early notable events in the newspapers' history include joining the United Press Association in 1915 and the coming of news via

teletypewriter A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels, in both point-to-point (telecommunications), point-to-point and point- ...

in 1928. After working out of a number of rented building spaces for the first several years, in 1930 E. E. Swain constructed an art deco style building in downtown Kirksville. It, along with an addition constructed in 1964 to house an offset printer, continues to serve as the ''Express'' offices. Following Swain's death in 1972 ownership and operation of the newspaper passed to his son E. E. Swain, Jr. In 1990 the ''Daily Express'' was sold to

American Publishing Company Sun-Times Media Group (formerly Hollinger International) is a Chicago-based newspaper publisher. History Sun-Times Media Group was founded in 1986 under the name ''American Publishing Company'', as a holding company for Hollinger Inc.'s Ameri ...

, although a Swain, E. E.'s grandson Tony, still remained as pressroom supervisor. Gatehouse Media (formerly Liberty Media Group) assumed operation of the newspaper in 1998. Faced with an aging offset press needing upgrade and growing consolidation in the newspaper industry, the decision was made in December, 2010 to shift printing of the ''Kirksville Daily Express'' to a sister Gatehouse Media operation in

Hannibal, Missouri Hannibal is a city along the Mississippi River in Marion and Ralls counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 17,312, making it the largest city in Marion County. The bulk of the city is in Mario ...

. Other than printing however all operations remain in Kirksville.

References

* ''A Book of Adair County History''. Pg. 171-173 Published by the Adair County Bicentennial Committee, 1976. * Hunsicker, Jason ''The end of an Era: Shifting press operations to Hannibal closes century of Kirksville printing''. Published by ''Kirksville Daily Express''. 13 December 2010.

External links

*
GateHouse Media
{{Gannett Newspapers published in Missouri Adair County, Missouri Kirksville micropolitan area, Missouri Gannett publications