a compendium of facts about Ohio history
by Dan Chabek
Pioneer Newspapers
Ohio's first newspaper -- the Sentinel of the North Western Territory -- was established in 1793 at Cincinnati by William Maxwell. In 1801, after being moved to Chillicothe, the paper merged into the Scioto Gazette.
Second newspaper published in what is now the Buckeye State was the Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette, founded in Cincinnati in 1799.
By 1810, Ohio had papers in Dayton, Steubenville, Lebanon, Zanesville, Lisbon, Marietta and St. Clairsville besides those at Cincinnati and Chillicothe.
The Cleveland Press, founded by E. W. Scripps, started out in 1878 as a small four-page afternonn daily called the Penny Press. It quit publishing in 1982.
The Plain Dealer, Ohio's largest daily, was established as a weekly by Joseph Gray in 1842. It surpassed the Press in size in 1968. Circulation in 1995 approximated 403,000 (daily) and 548,000 (Sunday).
© 1997 Dan Chabek
Ohio Newspaper Indexes online
Ohio Historical Society catalog of microfilmed Ohio newspaper holdings (1793-1996) 4,500 titles, 20,000 volumes, and almost 48,000 rolls of microfilm of Ohio titles