Pittsburgh Post Gazette - One of the oldest newspapers in the US
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette was founded in 1786 by John Schull and Joseph Hall. They bought a printing press and set it up in a small shop which was become more populated around Fort Pitt. The newspaper was a four page weekly that was produced on the wooden press they purchased. Now it’s the oldest newspaper in the United States that is west of the Allegheny Mountains. It has had many names and many owners over the years since the start of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette they have chronicled the history of the great city and the United States.
The newspaper printed the newly adopted Constitution of the United States in 1787. The paper was also known for fighting for the abolition of slavery and promoting of the nation. As I said earlier the Pittsburgh Post Gazette was not always known by this name. When John Schull was the editor it was only known as the last part of what it is known today. When John retired the newspaper over to the hands of Morgan-Neville he changed it to the city name and the later part plus he added Manufacturing and Mercantile Advertiser. He only owned it for a year and sold it to David Mclean. He dropped all but the original name. Following Mclean, Neville Craig brought new life to the Pittsburg Post Gazette and The Pittsburg Post Gazette became a personalized “daily” with many features and a Washington correspondent. David White took over the paper in 1841 and made the paper one of the chief spokesman for anti slavery forces in the North. He also transformed the paper into a morning edition in 1844. He redesigned the publication in 1851 using a larger print. In 1866 Nelson P. Reed took over and changed the name again to the Commercial Gazette.
The paper was then acquired by George Oliver and he restored the old title of the paper again. The city became the first city to have too many papers. Publishers formed together In 1924 Arthur Braun negotiated with Paul Block. Paul Block arranged to have the evening sun for the morning Times Mr. Block by consolidation now owned and published the first ever Pittsburgh Post Gazette on August 2, 1927. Just a footnote to that, it only cost three cents to buy a copy of the paper. It wasn’t until Paul Block’s death in 1941 that his sons William and Paul Block Jr. took over. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette purchased the Sun Telegraph from the Hearst Corp. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette tried for 18 months to publish a Sunday edition but the market would not support two Sunday papers. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette is still in operation today and you can find articles online anytime you want.