Casa Grande Dispatch
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The ''Casa Grande Dispatch'' is an American
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 ...
published Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in
Casa Grande, Arizona , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Casa Grande-Casa Grande Union High School-1920-2.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Historic Casa Grande Union High School which now serves as the ...
. Circulated in Casa Grande and surrounding areas, it is
Pinal County Pinal County is in the central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the county was 425,264, making it Arizona's third-most populous county. The county seat is Florence. The county was founded in 187 ...
's largest paid circulation newspaper. It has been published under the current ownership,
Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc. Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc. is a family owned and operated newspaper and commercial printing company based in Casa Grande, Arizona. Since its inception, it has grown to 6 community newspapers, 4 specialty publications, 3 news websites and ...
since 1963, and in January 2012 it began its 100th consecutive year of publication.


History


The ''Times''

Casa Grande , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Casa Grande-Casa Grande Union High School-1920-2.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Historic Casa Grande Union High School which now serves as the ...
was without a newspaper for most of its 33 years before the ''Casa Grande Times'' appeared in January 1912, founded by J. F. Brown, who was also its first editor. It was not the earliest paper, but it was the first to endure. Showing an interest in an issue still important in the desert, the ''Times'' supported formation of an irrigation district. The paper was printed in
Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...
. It was not until July 1913 that an editor's name appeared on the masthead, Bunny Randall. The next month it changed, apparently becoming more formal: Wainwright Randall.


The ''Bulletin''

The next year, a joint venture founded the ''Casa Grande Bulletin''. The first issue was printed on a Washington hand press in Casa Grande in September 1913. Angela Hutchinson Hammer was a divorced mother of three who had supported her family printing and publishing. She had a successful paper, the ''Miner'', in
Wickenburg Wickenburg is a town in Maricopa and Yavapai counties, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 7,474, up from 6,363 in 2010. History The Wickenburg area, along with much of the Southwest, became part of ...
, before deciding to take a break from the heated political climate there. She opened a print shop in
Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
with the help of her teenage sons, Louis and Billy. She was approached there by Ted Healey, a
Cochise County Cochise County () is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is named after the Native American chief Cochise. The population was 125,447 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Bisbee and the most populous city is ...
newspaperman who had the idea of a paper for Casa Grande but needed a printer. An agreement was made, but problems occurred from the start: She had to pay the freight charges for shipping her equipment because Healey could not, even though he had agreed to do so. Nevertheless, the ''Bulletin'', named after a paper Healey had in Cochise County, went into publication. The partners quarreled frequently. Hammer was a Democrat and Healey a Republican. A bigger division was that he favored pumping of groundwater while she supported a water users group that wanted to use
Gila River The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of n ...
water for farming. An editorial she wrote about the water issue was hidden by Healey, but recovered and printed.


The ''Dispatch''

After further problems, Hammer split up the partnership, moved her printing equipment and began publishing the ''Casa Grande Valley Dispatch'' in January 1914. Her equipment first was set up on an open lot, then moved inside a warehouse with no front. The ''Times'' merged with the ''Dispatch'' soon after the latter's founding. A battle between the ''Dispatch'' and the ''Bulletin'' ensued. Hammer later bought the ''Bulletin'', but a lender foreclosed on her equipment, an event that may have been hoped for by her opponents. She persevered, having her paper printed in Phoenix for a while. Hammer leased the paper out for a short while during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. She took it back and kept it going despite difficult times economically. The paper became more prosperous in the early 1920s. In 1924 she sold it to
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
publisher A.C. Wrenn, whose son Harold took over the ''Dispatch''.


Merger

In 1928 Healey sold the ''Bulletin'' to his former competitor, and in 1929 the combined paper's name was changed to its present one, ''Casa Grande Dispatch''. Ownership, however, changed several times through the early 1960s. Donovan M. Kramer Sr. and his wife, Ruth, bought the paper in late 1962 from Western Newspapers Inc. of Yuma. The ''Dispatch'' then was a small
weekly newspaper A weekly newspaper is a general-news or Current affairs (news format), current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and electronic publishing, digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly new ...
and was published in the building that now houses the Casa Grande Steakhouse, on Second Street near Florence Street. The Kramers soon converted to the offset printing process with cold type and moved the office up the street to 200 West Second Street, formerly the home of the post office, and to another building immediately to the west. Other buildings were purchased over the years in that block.


Frequency changes

The ''Dispatch'' in 1963 began publishing twice a week, and it became a member of 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 ...
in 1967. A third edition was added on Fridays in 1971. Five-day-a-week publication began in 1974, and a Saturday morning edition started in 1976. Later the ''Dispatch'' ended its Monday edition in favor of a Sunday edition and at that time the paper was changed from afternoon to morning delivery. In June 2019 the ''Dispatch'' began publishing three days per week — Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays — with news and content published daily on its website
''PinalCentral.com''


Sister newspapers

The Kramers bought the weekly ''Eloy Enterprise'' in 1967 and the ''Florence Reminder'' in 1970. They merged the ''Reminder'' with the ''Florence Blade-Tribune'' when it was bought the next year along with the ''Coolidge Examiner''.
Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc. Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc. is a family owned and operated newspaper and commercial printing company based in Casa Grande, Arizona. Since its inception, it has grown to 6 community newspapers, 4 specialty publications, 3 news websites and ...
now also publishes the weekly ''Arizona City Independent'' (in consolidation with the ''Arizona City Edition'') and ''Maricopa Monitor''. The company also publishes a shopper, ''Central Saver'', and ''Pinal Ways'' magazine, ''Pinal Real Estate Buyers' Guide'', ''Arizona Autos''. The Kramer family also owns the ''White Mountain Independent'', covering Show Low, Pinetop-Lakeside, Springerville, St. Johns and Snowflake. and the '' Payson Roundup'' covering Payson, Pine, Strawberry, Rye and Tonto Basin.''Newspaper Oldest Business Around''
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External links


Grande Dispatch'' website


References

{{Reflist Newspapers published in Arizona Mass media in Pinal County, Arizona Newspapers established in 1912 Casa Grande, Arizona 1912 establishments in Arizona