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 The 5 March 2007 front page of The Florida Times-Union | |
| Type | Dailynewspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | USA Today Co. |
| Founders |
|
| Editor | Paul Runnestrand |
| Founded | 1864; 161 years ago (1864) (as theFlorida Union) |
| Headquarters | 1 Independent Drive, Suite 200 Jacksonville, Florida 32202 US |
| Circulation | 27,818[1] |
| ISSN | 0740-2325 |
| OCLC number | 49633482 |
| Website | jacksonville |
The Florida Times-Union is a dailynewspaper inJacksonville, Florida, United States. Widely known as the oldest newspaper in the state, it began publication as theFlorida Union in 1864. Its current incarnation started in 1883, when theFlorida Union merged with another Jacksonville paper, theFlorida Daily Times.[2]
In 1983,Morris Communications ofAugusta, Georgia, 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 byGannett. Its editor is Paul Runnestrand.
In 1864, during theAmerican Civil War, J. K. Stickney and W. C. Morrill published the first edition of theFlorida Union. It was aNorthern andRepublican paper, at the time when Jacksonville was occupied by theUnion Army. By 1867, Stickney sold theFlorida Union to Edward M. Cheney, ofBoston. Cheney tried to make the paper into a daily publication but lacked the needed money. TheUnion was sold to Walton, Fowle & Co. in 1873. Stockholder C. F. Mawbey assumed control and turned theUnion into a daily publication. Cheney returned to theUnion as an editor.
In 1876, theUnion 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 theUnion but was refused by McCallum. Annoyed, Jones started a rival paper, theFlorida Daily Times, in November 1881. By 1883, theDaily Times was dominating theUnion. McCallum became ill and finally decided to sell the paper to theDaily Times. TheUnion then combined with theDaily Times to formThe Florida Times-Union, whose first edition was published on February 4, 1883.[3]
The paper was partisan and worked to promote railroad interests.[4] TheDaily Times was reporting on election related violence in 1882.[5]
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 atThe Gainesville Sun andThe Daytona Beach News-Journal, which are both owned byGatehouse Media.[6] On April 1, 2019,The Florida Times-Union moved to the Wells Fargo building at1 Independent Drive, Suite 200 in downtown Jacksonville.[7]
For most of the 20th century,The Florida Times-Union was owned by the Florida Publishing Company, which was in turn jointly owned by theAtlantic Coast Line Railroad, theFlorida East Coast Railway, and theSeaboard Air Line Railway, the three main railroads serving Jacksonville, having been acquired in equal shares by them or their corporate predecessors about 1896.[8] The Coast Line and the Seaboard merged in 1967 as theSeaboard Coast Line, which evolved intoCSX Transportation; 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 1983Morris Communications ofAugusta, Georgia, acquired the Florida Publishing Company for $200 million.[9] In October 2017Gatehouse Media acquired theTimes-Union from Morris Communications, in conjunction with numerous other papers across the country, for $120 million.[10] GateHouse merged with Gannett in 2019; while GateHouse was the nominal survivor, the merged company took the better-known Gannett name.
