Observer-Dispatch

Last updated

Observer-Dispatch
Observer-Dispatch masthead.svg
Utica Observer-Dispatch building, Utica New York.jpg
Former Observer-Dispatch building, vacant since 2022
TypeDaily newspaper
Format Broadsheet
Owner(s) Gannett
Founded1817, as Utica Observer
Headquarters221 Oriskany Plaza, Utica, New York, United States
Circulation 17,123 Daily
21,444 Sunday
(as of 2018) [1]
Sister newspapers The Times Telegram
ISSN 0890-0329
OCLC number 10886202
Website uticaod.com

The Observer-Dispatch (The O-D) is a newspaper serving the Utica-Rome metropolitan area in Central New York, circulating in Oneida County, Herkimer County, and parts of Madison County. Based in Utica, New York, the publication is owned by Gannett.

Contents

History

Newsboys for one of the precursors of The Observer-Dispatch in 1910, photographed by Lewis Hine Lewis Hine, Pasquale Lolara, Ercola Guallilo, Jerry Paciello, Frank Graciana, newsboys, Utica, New York, 1910.jpg
Newsboys for one of the precursors of The Observer-Dispatch in 1910, photographed by Lewis Hine

Eliasaph Dorchester founded the weekly Utica Observer in 1817. The paper briefly moved to Rome, New York and published under the name of the Oneida Observer, but returned to Utica after. The paper consolidated with the Utica Democrat in 1852, bringing with it long-time editor Dewitt C. Grove, who simultaneously served as mayor of Utica from 1860 to 1862. The Observer's facilities were destroyed in 1884 by a fire. [2] Construction began in 1914 on a new office for the Observer, which was completed in 1915. [3] The two-story building was expanded to three stories in 1930, with the name "Utica Observer-Dispatch" engraved in the stone above the third story windows. [4]

In 1922 the paper was purchased by Frank E. Gannett, founder of the Gannett Company. Gannett purchased the Herald-Dispatch at the same time and combined the two, creating the Utica Observer-Dispatch. [3] Gannet also purchased the Utica Daily Press in 1935. The Utica Daily Press and the Utica Observer-Dispatch merged in 1987, and were renamed to the current Observer-Dispatch. [5] Gannett owned the newspaper until 2007, when it was purchased by GateHouse Media. [6] GateHouse Media's parent company merged with Gannett in 2019, returning the Observer-Dispatch to Gannett once more. [7]

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the O-D had a weekly Bosnian language column serving the Bosnian American population in Utica. [8] [9]

The company added digital delivery of news and information in January 2000 with the launch of uticaOD.com. It began online video publication in 2006.[ citation needed ]

In 2004, the Observer-Dispatch purchased the Mid York Weekly newspaper, serving Hamilton, New York, and seven weekly Pennysaver publications, which are mailed throughout Oneida and Herkimer counties.[ citation needed ]

In January 2022, the paper announced it would cease printing its Saturday edition starting March. [10] In March, the Observer-Dispatch building was purchased by a real estate investment group. [4] [11]

In September 2023, the paper announced it will switch from carrier to postal delivery via U.S. Postal Service starting Oct. 23. [12]

Awards

The Utica Daily Press and the Utica Observer-Dispatch were jointly awarded the 1959 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service: [13]

For their successful campaign against corruption, gambling and vice in their home city and the achievement of sweeping civic reforms in the face of political pressure and threats of violence.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herkimer County, New York</span> County in New York, United States

Herkimer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,139. Its county seat is Herkimer. The county was created in 1791 north of the Mohawk River out of part of Montgomery County. It is named after General Nicholas Herkimer, who died from battle wounds in 1777 after taking part in the Battle of Oriskany during the Revolutionary War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oneida County, New York</span> County in New York, United States

Oneida County is a county in the state of New York, United States. As of February 26, 2024, the population was 226,654. The county seat is Utica. The name is in honor of the Oneida, one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois League or Haudenosaunee, which had long occupied this territory at the time of European encounter and colonization. The federally recognized Oneida Indian Nation has had a reservation in the region since the late 18th century, after the American Revolutionary War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utica, New York</span> City located in central New York, United States

Utica is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 U.S. Census. Located on the Mohawk River at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains, it is approximately 95 mi (153 km) west-northwest of Albany, 55 mi (89 km) east of Syracuse and 240 mi (386 km) northwest of New York City. Utica and the nearby city of Rome anchor the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area comprising all of Oneida and Herkimer Counties.

Mohawk is a village in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The population was 2,731 at the 2010 census. The village was named after the adjacent Mohawk River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Oriskany</span> 1777 battle of the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of Oriskany was a significant engagement of the Saratoga campaign of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the bloodiest battles in the conflict between Patriot forces and those loyal to Great Britain. On August 6, 1777, several hundred of Britain's Indigenous allies, accompanied by Loyalists of the King's Royal Regiment of New York and the British Indian Department, ambushed a Patriot militia column which was marching to relieve the siege of Fort Stanwix. This was one of the few battles in which the majority of the participants were American colonists. Patriots and allied Oneidas fought against Loyalists and allied Iroquois and Mississaugas. No British regulars were involved; however, a detachment of Hessians was present.

<i>Detroit Free Press</i> American newspaper

The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep. It primarily serves Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, Washtenaw, and Monroe counties.

The Marion Star is a newspaper in Marion, Ohio. The paper is owned by the Gannett Newspaper organization. The paper is also notable as having once been owned and published by Warren G. Harding, and his wife Florence Kling Harding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central New York</span> Collection of counties situated in the heart of New York State

Central New York is the central region of New York state, including:

The Utica Children's Museum is a children's museum in Utica, New York. It closed its old downtown location in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its new location along Utica's Memorial Parkway is expected to open in 2024.

Leatherstocking Council is the Boy Scouts of America council which serves Herkimer, Oneida, Schoharie, and Madison counties as well as part of Hamilton, Otsego, Delaware and Lewis counties in the state of New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York State Route 365</span> State highway in central New York, US

New York State Route 365 (NY 365) is an east–west state highway in the central portion of New York, United States. It extends for 44.26 miles (71.23 km) from an intersection with NY 5, east of the Madison County city of Oneida to a junction with NY 8 in the Herkimer County town of Ohio. The portion of NY 365 in western and central Oneida County is a regionally important highway that serves densely populated areas, including the cities of Oneida and Rome. In Verona, a town situated midway between the two locations, NY 365 passes by the Turning Stone Resort & Casino and connects to the New York State Thruway. East of Barneveld, a village in eastern Oneida County, NY 365 is a rural connector road that runs along the Hinckley Reservoir, a waterbody that extends into Herkimer County and Adirondack Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York State Route 49</span> State highway in central New York, US

New York State Route 49 (NY 49) is an east–west state highway in central New York in the United States. It runs for just over 64 miles (103 km) from an intersection with NY 3 in the town of Volney in Oswego County, New York to an interchange with Interstate 790 (I-790), NY 5, NY 8 and NY 12 in the city of Utica in Oneida County. The route follows a generally northwest–southeast alignment between the two points, passing along the north shore of Oneida Lake and directly serving the city of Rome. As NY 49 heads east, it connects to several highways of regional importance, such as I-81 in the village of Central Square and NY 13 in the town of Vienna. Most of NY 49 is a two-lane surface road; however, the section between Rome and Utica is a freeway known as the Utica–Rome Expressway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York State Route 5S</span> Highway in New York

New York State Route 5S (NY 5S) is a 72.92-mile-long (117.35 km) east–west state highway located in the Mohawk Valley of New York in the United States. It extends from a continuation of NY 5A at an interchange with NY 5, NY 8, NY 12, and Interstate 790 (I-790) in Utica to an interchange with NY 890 in Rotterdam. The route runs along the south side of the Mohawk River for its entire length and parallels NY 5, which runs along the north side of the Mohawk River. NY 5S intersects several primary routes including NY 28 in Mohawk, NY 30A in Fultonville, NY 30 south of Amsterdam, as well as intersecting the New York State Thruway (I-90) several times. The route is part of New York State Bicycle Route 5 west of its junction with NY 103 in Schenectady County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald J. Mitchell</span> American politician

Donald Jerome Mitchell represented New York in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1983.

<i>The Sheboygan Press</i> Daily newspaper in Sheboygan, Wisconsin

The Sheboygan Press is a daily newspaper based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, United States. It is one of a number of newspapers in the state of Wisconsin owned by Gannett, including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Green Bay Press-Gazette and Appleton's The Post-Crescent, along with the nearby Herald Times Reporter of Manitowoc. The Sheboygan Press is primarily distributed in Sheboygan County.

The Times Telegram is an American daily newspaper published in Herkimer, New York. It serves southern Herkimer County and the westernmost part of adjacent Montgomery County in the Mohawk Valley region of New York State.

Walter M. Van Wiggeren was an American engineer and politician from New York.

Rufus Pasquale "Rufie" Elefante was an American political boss from Utica, New York. Originally a Republican, who worked as a trucker, Elefante rose to power during the late 1920s. Though he never held public office, he came to control the Democratic political machine in Utica, which dominated Utica politics from the 1930s through the 1950s. Although the machine oversaw a period of economic stability for Utica, its tolerance of organized crime led to widespread corruption and vice, giving Utica the nickname "Sin City". Elefante was the most powerful figure in Oneida County during his time, and is still regarded as the Utica politician with the largest legacy. He remains a very controversial figure in Utica politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jedediah Sanger</span> American landowner and politician (1751–1829)

Jedediah Sanger was the founder of the town of New Hartford, New York, United States. He was a native of Sherborn, Massachusetts, and the ninth child of Richard and Deborah Sanger, a prominent colonial New England family. During the Revolutionary War he attained the rank of 1st Lieutenant having fought in the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Siege of Boston (1776), and during the New York Campaign.

The Daily Sentinel is a newspaper serving the Utica-Rome metropolitan area in Central New York. It is based in Rome, New York and has an office in Utica, New York.

References

  1. ↑ "2018 Legacy NEWM Annual Reports" (PDF). investors.gannett.com. 2018.
  2. ↑ Wager, Daniel E. (1896). Our county and its people: a descriptive work on Oneida County, New York. Salem, Mass.: Higginson Book Company. pp. 355–356. OCLC   317926894.
  3. 1 2 Nelson, Greene (1925). History of the Mohawk Valley : gateway to the West, 1614-1925, covering the six counties of Schenectady, Schoharie, Montgomery, Fulton, Herkimer and Oneida. Vol. 3. S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. pp. 261–262. OCLC   866075217.
  4. 1 2 Harris, Edward (March 4, 2022). "O-D building in downtown Utica sold to The Mohawk Observer, LLC". Observer-Dispatch. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Utica Observer-Dispatch". The encyclopedia of New York State. Peter R. Eisenstadt, Laura-Eve Moss (1 ed.). Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press. 2005. p. 1629. ISBN   0-8156-0808-X. OCLC   57506556.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. ↑ Gamela, Renée (April 13, 2007). "Utica-based newspaper sold after 85 years with Gannett". Observer-Dispatch.
  7. ↑ Tracy, Marc (November 19, 2019). "Gannett, Now Largest U.S. Newspaper Chain, Targets 'Inefficiencies'". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  8. ↑ Percy Kraly, Ellen; VanValkenburg, Kristin (2010). "Refugee resettlement in Utica, New York: Opportunities and Issues for Community Development". In Frazier, John W. (ed.). Multicultural geographies : the changing racial/ethnic patterns of the United States. Florence M. Margai, John W. Frazier. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press. p. 145. ISBN   978-1-4384-3683-8. OCLC   793202791.
  9. ↑ Race and ethnic relations, 05/06. John A. Kromkowski. Dubuque, Iowa: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin. 2005. p. 3. ISBN   0-07-305378-3. OCLC   62235542.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. ↑ "Observer-Dispatch to cease Saturday print publication, expand digital access". Utica Observer Dispatch. January 12, 2022. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Downstate investment group new owner of former Utica OD building". WKTV NewsChannel2. March 4, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Observer-Dispatch transitioning to postal delivery". Utica Observer Dispatch. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  13. ↑ "1959 Pulitzer Prize Winners & Finalists". www.pulitzer.org. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.