The Columbian

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The Columbian
The Columbian front page.jpg
Type Daily newspaper
Format Broadsheet
Owner(s)Columbian Publishing Co. (Campbell family)
Founder(s)Tom Carolan
PublisherBen Campbell
EditorCraig Brown
Founded1890
LanguageEnglish
Headquarters Vancouver, Washington
Circulation 48,078(as of 2022) [1]
Sister newspapers Camas-Washougal Post-Record
ISSN 1043-4151
OCLC number 15644994
Website columbian.com

The Columbian is a daily newspaper serving the Vancouver, Washington, and Clark County, Washington area. It is owned by the Campbell family [2] and is the newspaper of record for Vancouver and Washougal. [3]

Contents

History

Tom Carolan first published the Vancouver Columbian on October 10, 1890. [4] He started the paper with S. D. Dennis as a means to promote the Democratic Party and act as counterweight to the local Republican newspaper The Vancouver Independent. [5] Dennis left the paper in 1896 and was replaced by Joseph A. C. Brant. Republican Samuel J. Miller took the reins in 1900. Less than a year later the paper was turned over to M. M. Banister. Five years later he sold out to E. E. Beard, publisher of The Olympian . [5]

Under Beard, the paper went from weekly to daily print publication on October 19, 1908. [6] After twelve years Beard sold the paper to George Hyland, who sold out after six months to William H. Hornibrook in April 1919. [5] Hornibrook sold the paper to Herbert Campbell, with the ownership change going into effect on May 1, 1921. [7]

In 1928, the newspaper moved from the Odd Fellows' building at 4th and Washington streets [8] into a newly constructed office building at the northwest corner of 10th and Broadway made specifically for the paper. The construction costs was $40,000. [9] One person remarked the property looked like a bank. [10]

In August 1947, rival newspaper Vancouver Daily Sun shuttered after publishing for four decades [11] and its subscriber list and advertising accounts were taken over by the Vancouver Columbian. [5] In 1954, construction on a new printing plant for the paper costing $375,000 began at West 8th and Grant street. The project was scheduled to be completed in July 1955. [12] The Columbian published its first Sunday edition on Aug. 6, 1972, [13] and added a Saturday edition on July 10, 1999. [14]

The paper briefly relocated to new offices just south of Esther Short Park on Jan. 13, 2008, [15] but, citing declining revenue, relocated to their original building at 701 W. 8th St. by December of the same year in an attempt to avert bankruptcy. [16] On May 1, 2009, The Columbian filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. [17] On Feb. 5, 2010, the company emerged from bankruptcy. [18] On June 10, 2010, the city of Vancouver purchased the former Columbian building and surrounding land downtown for $18.5 million from the Bank of America to become its new city hall. [19]

Ben Campbell, the paper's fourth generation owner, was named publisher in 2020. [20]

References

  1. ↑ "The Decline of Local News and Its Impact on Democracy" (PDF). League of Women Voters of Washington Education Fund. November 14, 2022.
  2. ↑ "The Columbian Publishing Co". The Columbian. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  3. ↑ As appointed by Washougal city code section 1.08.010
  4. ↑ "Columbian launched as Democratic newspaper". The Columbian. Vancouver, Washington. October 10, 1990. pp. A3, A4 . Retrieved August 15, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "The Columbian Can Look Back and See 65 Years of Colorful History". The Columbian and The Sun. Vancouver, Washington. October 10, 1990. p. 15. Retrieved August 15, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "The Daily Columbian". The Daily Vancouver Columbian. Vancouver, Washington. October 19, 1908. p. 2. Retrieved August 15, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Evening Columbian Sold". The Tacoma Sunday Ledger. Tacoma, Washington. May 1, 1921. p. 10-A. Retrieved August 15, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Vancouver Columbian Moves". The Sunday Oregonian. Portland, Oregon. April 15, 1928. p. 22. Retrieved August 15, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Columbian Moving Into New Home: Large Quarters In Modern Plant To Be Occupied". The Vancouver Evening Columbian. Vancouver, Washington. April 14, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved August 15, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Columbian Building Looks Like Bank". The Vancouver Evening Columbian. Vancouver, Washington. May 14, 1928. p. 3. Retrieved August 15, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Spokane Chronicle". Associated Press. August 30, 1947. p. 15.
  12. ↑ "Paper to Build $375,000 Plant". Oregon Daily Journal. Portland, Oregon. November 3, 1954. p. 1:7. Retrieved August 15, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Rystrom, Kenneth (December 10, 1972). "How the Sunday Columbian came out". The Sunday Columbian. Vancouver, Washington. p. 25. Retrieved August 15, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Campbell, Scott (July 10, 1999). "Welcome to Columbian's Saturday edition". The Columbian. Vancouver, Washington. p. A1. Retrieved August 15, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "The Columbian timeline". The Columbian. Vancouver, Washington. January 11, 2008. p. C8. Retrieved August 15, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Columbian could file bankruptcy". Portland Business Journal. October 8, 2008. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  17. ↑ "The Columbian Seeks Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection". The Seattle Times. May 2, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  18. ↑ Anderson, Julia (February 5, 2010). "The Columbian is out of bankruptcy". The Columbian. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  19. ↑ Damewood, Andrea (June 3, 2010). "Vancouver reaches $18.5 million deal on City Hall sale". The Columbian. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  20. ↑ Brown, Craig (December 25, 2024). "The Columbian names Ben Campbell as new publisher". The Columbian. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
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