Whitman County Gazette

Last updated
Whitman County Gazette
TypeWeekly newspaper
Format Broadsheet
Owner(s)Free Press Publishing
Founded1877
Language English
Headquarters Colfax, Washington
Circulation 3,802(as of 2022) [1]
ISSN 2157-653X
OCLC number 26200048
Website wcgazette.com

The Whitman County Gazette is a local newspaper in Colfax, Washington, United States. It was established in 1877 as the Palouse Gazette and merged with other newspapers in the city in the early 20th century, adopting its current name in 1989.

History

The first issue of the Palouse Gazette was published on September 29, 1877, by local residents Charles B. Hopkins and Lucien E. Kellogg of Colfax, then a small town in Washington Territory. The newspaper was established during the Nez Perce War, which brought settlers in the Palouse in conflict with the indigenous tribes of the region. [2] The Gazette was sold to Ivan Chase in 1888 and renamed to the Colfax Gazette five years later. [3] The newspaper expended to a four-page, nine-column layout in 1887, making it the largest in the Washington Territory at the time. [4]

The Colfax Gazette, a Republican-leaning newspaper, merged with the Democratic-leaning Colfax Commoner in 1932, forming the Colfax Gazette-Commoner. [3] The Commoner had originally been founded in 1885 and began regular publication in 1911. [5] The combined newspaper's name was reverted to the Colfax Gazette in 1958 and renamed to the Whitman County Gazette in 1989 to reflect its county-wide coverage. [2] The newspaper claims that it is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Washington state. [6]

The Whitman County Gazette was formerly owned by A. L. Alford Jr., who also controlled the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Lewiston Morning Tribune . Alford sold the Gazette to long-time editor and publisher Gordon Forgey in 2003. [7] On March 1, 2020, Free Press Publishing acquired the Gazette from Forgey following their purchases of the Colfax Daily Bulletin and Odessa Record. [8] [9] The Gazette moved to a new office in Colfax in July 2020. [10]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moscow, Idaho</span> City in northern Idaho, United States

Moscow is a city in North Central Idaho, United States. Located along the state border with Washington, it had a population of 25,435 at the 2020 census. The county seat and largest city of Latah County, Moscow is the home of the University of Idaho, the state's land-grant institution and primary research university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitman County, Washington</span> County in Washington, United States

Whitman County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,973. The county seat is Colfax, and its largest city is Pullman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colfax, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Colfax is the county seat of Whitman County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,805 at the 2010 census. The population is estimated at 2,911 per the State of Washington Office of Financial Management in 2018 making Colfax the second largest city in Whitman County behind Pullman. It is situated amidst wheat-covered hills in a valley at the confluence of the north and south forks of the Palouse River. U.S. Route 195, which forms the town's main street, intersects with State Route 26 at the north end of town; in the past, Colfax also lay at the junction of three major railway lines. It was named after Schuyler Colfax, the vice president from 1869–73.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pullman, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Pullman is the largest city in Whitman County, located in southeastern Washington within the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. The population was 29,799 at the 2010 census, and estimated to be 34,506 in 2019. Originally founded as Three Forks, the city was renamed after industrialist George Pullman in 1884.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 195</span> U.S. Highway in Washington (state) and Idaho in the United States

U.S. Route 195 (US 195) is a north–south United States Highway, of which all but 0.65 miles of its 94.02 miles are within the state of Washington. The highway starts in rural Idaho north of the city of Lewiston as a state highway in an interchange with US 95. As the road crosses into Washington it becomes a state highway that connects communities in the Palouse region of Eastern Washington. US 195 travels north, serving the cities of Pullman, Colfax and Rosalia in Whitman County before continuing into Spokane County to its terminus in the city of Spokane at an interchange with Interstate 90 (I-90).

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The Palouse River is a tributary of the Snake River in Washington and Idaho, in the northwest United States. It flows for 167 miles (269 km) southwestwards, primarily through the Palouse region of southeastern Washington. It is part of the Columbia River Basin, as the Snake River is a tributary of the Columbia River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pullman–Moscow Regional Airport</span> Airport in Whitman County, Washington

Pullman–Moscow Regional Airport is a public airport in the northwest United States, located in Whitman County, Washington, two miles (3 km) east of Pullman, Washington and four miles (6 km) west of Moscow, Idaho. The airport is accessed via spurs from State Route 270, and has a single 7,101-foot (2,164 m) runway, headed northeast–southwest (5/23), which entered service in October 2019. The former runway (6/24) was 6,730 feet (2,051 m) and aligned with Moscow Mountain twelve miles (20 km) to the northeast, the highest summit in the area.

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State Route 276 (SR 276) was a legislated, but not constructed, state highway located in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway was meant to serve as a northern bypass of Pullman in Whitman County, traveling east from U.S. Route 195 (US 195) west of the city to SR 270 east of the city. Proposals were first drawn in 1969 for a complete ring road around Pullman, with the west side built and signed as US 195 in 1975. The northern segment of the ring road was codified in law in 1973 as SR 276, but was never constructed. In 2016, the highway was removed by the state legislature.

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State Route 272 (SR 272) is a 19.22-mile (30.93 km) long state highway serving Whitman County in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway travels from U.S. Route 195 (US 195) in Colfax to a short concurrency with parent route SR 27 in Palouse before ending at the Idaho state line and becoming Idaho State Highway 6 (SH-6). Prior to 1964, the highway was split between Secondary State Highway 3F (SSH 3F) from Colfax to Palouse and a branch of Primary State Highway 3 (PSH 3) from Palouse to the Idaho state line.

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News is a daily newspaper in the northwestern United States, serving the Moscow, Idaho, and Pullman, Washington, metropolitan area. The two cities on the Palouse are the homes of the two states' land grant universities, the University of Idaho and Washington State University.

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William Goodyear was an American football coach, newspaper editor, publisher, and politician in Whitman County in eastern Washington. He was the first head coach of the Washington State Cougars football team, holding that position for the 1894 college football season. Goodyear was also a newspaper publisher and editor. His newspapers included the Pullman Herald, the Pullman News, the Colfax Commoner in Colfax, Washington, the Palouse City News in Palouse, Washington, and the Pacific Farmers' Union. He was also active in Democratic Party politics and was the party's candidate for United States Congress in Washington's 3rd congressional district in 1908.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guy Wicks</span>

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References

  1. "The Decline of Local News and Its Impact on Democracy" (PDF). League of Women Voters of Washington Education Fund. 2022-11-14.
  2. 1 2 "About The Colfax Gazette". Chronicling America . National Digital Newspaper Program . Retrieved January 23, 2020 via Library of Congress.
  3. Meany, Edmond S. (July 1922). "Newspapers of Washington Territory". The Washington Historical Quarterly . University of Washington Press. 13 (3): 188. JSTOR   40474644. OCLC   2392232 . Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  4. Bagwell, Steve; Stapilus, Randy (2013). New Editions: The Northwest's newspapers as they were, are, and will be. Carlton, Oregon: Ridenbaugh Press. pp. 199–200. ISBN   978-0-945648-10-9. OCLC   861618089.
  5. "About Whitman County Gazette". Whitman County Gazette. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  6. "Publisher Forgey purchases Whitman County Gazette". Moscow-Pullman Daily News . January 2, 2003. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  7. "Whitman County Gazette changes hands". Lewiston Tribune . March 1, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  8. Thomas, Virginia (March 12, 2020). "Free Press Publishing acquires two newspapers". Spokane Journal of Business . Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  9. "Gazette office moving" . Whitman County Gazette. June 25, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020.