''The Florida Times-Union'' is a daily

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, United States. Widely known as the oldest newspaper in the state, it began publication as the ''Florida Union'' in 1864. Its current incarnation started in 1883, when the ''Florida Union'' merged with another Jacksonville paper, the ''Florida Daily Times''. A Southeast

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

edition, called ''The Georgia Times-Union'', serves the Brunswick area. In 1983,

Morris Communications Morris Communications, headquartered in Augusta, Georgia, is a privately held media company with diversified holdings that include magazine publishing, outdoor advertising, book publishing and distribution, visitor publications, and online serv ...

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

, purchased Florida Publishing Company. ''The Times-Union'' became the largest newspaper of this chain, which owns a number of newspapers around the country. The paper is now owned by Gannett. In 2018, its editor was Mary Kelli Palka, and the editorial page editor was Michael P. Clark.

History

In 1864, during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, J. K. Stickney and W. C. Morrill published the first edition of the ''Florida Union''. It was a Northern and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

paper, at the time when Jacksonville was occupied by the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

. By 1867, Stickney sold the ''Florida Union'' to Edward M. Cheney, of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Cheney tried to make the paper into a daily publication but lacked the needed money. The ''Union'' was sold to Walton, Fowle & Co. in 1873. Stockholder C. F. Mawbey assumed control and turned the ''Union'' into a daily publication. Cheney returned to the ''Union'' as an editor. In 1876, the ''Union'' was in decline and abandoned daily publication. Financially doomed, it was sold to H. B. McCallum, who then returned it to daily publication and converted it from an afternoon to a morning paper. Charles H. Jones wanted to buy the ''Union'' but was refused by McCallum. Annoyed, Jones started a rival paper, the ''Florida Daily Times'', in November 1881. By 1883, the ''Daily Times'' was dominating the ''Union''. McCallum became ill and finally decided to sell the paper to the ''Daily Times''. The ''Union'' then combined with the ''Daily Times'' to form ''The Florida Times-Union'', whose first edition was published on February 4, 1883. The paper was partisan and worked to promote railroad interests. The ''Daily Times'' was reporting on election related violence in 1882. On February 11, 2018, ''The Florida Times-Union'' printed its last papers in Jacksonville after 154 years. ''The Florida Times-Union'' newspapers are now printed at ''

The Gainesville Sun ''The Gainesville Sun'' () is a newspaper published daily in Gainesville, Florida, United States, covering the North-Central portion of the state. The paper is published by Lynni Henderson, the paper's Executive Editor is Douglas Ray and the edi ...

'' and ''

The Daytona Beach News-Journal ''The Daytona Beach News-Journal'' is a Florida daily newspaper serving Volusia and Flagler Counties. It grew from the ''Halifax Journal'', which was started in 1883. The Davidson family purchased the newspaper in 1928 and retained control unt ...

'', which are both owned by Gatehouse Media. On April 1, 2019, ''The Florida Times-Union'' moved to the Wells Fargo building at 1 Independent Drive, Suite 200 in downtown Jacksonville. File:FloridaTimesUnion1880s.jpg, ''The Florida Times-Union'' (far right) in the 1880s. File:FTUPressroom1911.jpg, The pressroom in 1911. File:FTU1972.jpg, The Florida Times Union employees using linotype machines in 1972. File:Ftuhq.jpeg, The offices of ''The Florida Times-Union'' from 1967 to 2019.

Ownership

For most of the 20th century, ''The Florida Times-Union'' was owned by the Florida Publishing Company, which was in turn jointly owned by the

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967 it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast L ...

, the Florida East Coast Railway, and the

Seaboard Air Line Railway The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad which existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, t ...

, the three main railroads serving Jacksonville, having been acquired in equal shares by them or their corporate predecessors about 1896. The Coast Line and the Seaboard merged in 1967 and were predecessors of

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

; the Florida East Coast has maintained its corporate identity into the 21st century. Both railroads have their headquarters in Jacksonville, the railroad hub of the state. In 1983

, acquired the Florida Publishing Company for $200 million. In October 2017 Gatehouse Media acquired the ''Times-Union'' from Morris Communications, in conjunction with numerous other papers across the country, for $120 million.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Florida Times-Union, The 1864 establishments in Florida Brooklyn, Jacksonville Companies based in Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville Modern architecture Mass media in Jacksonville, Florida Gannett publications Newspapers published in Florida Publications established in 1864

History

Ownership

See also

References

External links