| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Owner | Pacific Publishing Company |
| Founder | Cal Sunderland |
| Publisher | Peter Bernhard |
| Managing editor | Jen Anderson |
| Founded | 1972 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | 1022 S. Grass Valley Road Winnemucca, NV 89445 |
| ISSN | 1082-2976 |
| OCLC number | 13775980 |
| Website | greatbasinsun |
The Great Basin Sun is a weekly newspaper in Winnemucca, Nevada. [1] It was founded in 1972 and preceded by The Silver State, HumboldtStar and HumboldtBulletin. The Sun is a member of the Nevada Press Association, [2] and a newspaper of record for Humboldt, Lander and Pershing counties. [3]
In 1870, John C. Hall started the Silver State in Unionville, Nevada. [4] The newspaper went through a number of owners. Peter Meyers and J.J. Hill moved the paper to Winnemucca and relaunched it in September 1874. [4] George S. Nixon bought the paper in 1890 and sold it to the Winnemucca Publishing Co. in 1902. [4] The paper was briefly known as the Winnemucca Republican and Daily Silver State until reverting back to The Silver State. [4]
In January 1906, the Humboldt Star was founded by R.E.L. "Leo" Windle and George M. Rose. [5] [6] A.L. Brackett was a third partner in the firm. In December 1912, Rose retired. [7] In June 1922, Rollin C. Stitser purchased Windle's half-interest, [8] and in July 1923 bought out Brackett to become the Star's sole owner. [9] In June 1925, Stitser's father leased the 50-year-old The Silver State of Winnemucca from Mrs. M.E. Graham and then consolidated it into the Star. [10] The paper soon expanded into a daily. R.C. Stitser died in January 1939 from a brain tumor at age 39. [11] [12] His widow Avery D. Stitser then operated the paper. In October 1960, she sold it to Donrey Media Group. [13]
In September 1961, Clayton Darrah founded the Humboldt County Bulletin with Pete Jenkins and Celso Cobeaga, who both were employed at the Star before it was sold. [14] In July 1964, the paper expanded to a daily and was renamed to the Nevada Daily Bulletin. [15] In December 1966, it returned to a weekly under the original name. [16] In October 1967, Darrah purchased the HumboldtStar and Battle Mountain Scout from Donrey Media Group and then absorbed them into the Bulletin. [17]
In December 1971, Cal Sunderland and his wife Barbara moved to Winnemucca after agreeing to purchase the Humboldt County Bulletin from Clayton and Georgia Darrah. [18] The deal fell through. In January 1972, the couple founded a rival paper called the HumboldtSun. [19] The Durrahs then sued the Sunderlands for $365,738 in response. [20]
In April 1975, the Sun expanded from a weekly to a twice-weekly. [21] In August 1975, Mr. Clayton died and the Bulletin at some point ceased. [22] In May 1976, Cal Sunderland retired as editor and was succeeded by his son Michael K. Sunderland. [21] In October 1977, the Sunderlands sold the Sun to Mark and June McMahon, while their son maintained a minority stake. [23]
In 1995, the Sun expanded into a daily. In February 1998, the McMahons sold the Sun to Diversified Suburban Newspapers, a Utah-based company owned by William Dean Singleton and brothers Peter and Andy Bernhard. [24] In 2005, Peter Bernhard acquired the Seattle-based Pacific Publishing Company and from then on operated the Sun under that business. [25] In June, 2022, Bernhard announced the Winnemucca Humboldt Sun, Battle Mountain Bugle and Lovelock Review-Miner would be merged into a single publication called the Great Basin Sun. [26]