The Pittsburgh Press

The Pittsburgh Press    The Pittsburgh Press

The Pittsburgh Press began as The Evening Penny Press owned by a group of investors led by Thomas Keenan. The first issue was printed on June 23, 1884 and the paper found success in a market dominated by publications costing two or three cents per edition. The title of the newspaper was changed to the Pittsburg Press on October 19, 1887. It wasn't until 1921 that the 'h' was added to the newspaper's name.

In 1901, ownership of the Press passed to a syndicate led by Oliver S. Hershman, who retained control until selling the company to the Scripps-Howard national chain in 1923. The afternoon daily grew to be the second largest newspaper in Pennsylvania, behind the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Pittsburgh Press    The Pittsburgh Press

The Pittsburgh Press featuring Joe Palooka

A large Sunday edition was also quite popular, in later years containing an enlarged color comics section that included the likes of Joe Palooka, Prince Valiant and Blondie, along with a variety of inserted magazines, including the Press TV Guide, Family, Roto, and Weekly sections.

In 1927 a new, modern four-story facility was built at 34 Boulevard of the Allies, at a cost of $4 million. In 1961, the Press entered into a Joint Operating Agreement with the competing Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which had previously purchased and merged with the Hearst Corporation's Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph.

This left just the Post-Gazette and the much larger Pittsburgh Press as the city's major publications. Under the agreement, the Post-Gazette became a six-day morning paper, and the Pittsburgh Press remained an afternoon daily in addition to the sole Sunday paper.

Pittsburgh Press delivery truck - 1940.

On October 2, 1992, due in large part to union labor difficulties, the Pittsburgh Press company was put up for sale and purchased by Block Communications, owners of the Post-Gazette, leaving Pittsburgh with just one daily newspaper. The final edition of the Pittsburgh Press had been published on July 28 of that year.

Sale of the Pittsburgh Press was final on November 30, 1992, and the first edition of the Post-Gazette, which absorbed many of the Press' personnel and the majority the it's circulation, was published on January 18, 1993.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

For four years beginning on November 14, 2011, the owners of the Post-Gazette revived the Pittsburgh Press name with an afternoon online-only edition. This was done due to the overwhelming popularity of the former Pittsburgh paper, despite it's being out of publication for almost twenty years.

Unlike most online publications, this version was presented in the look and format of a traditional newspaper. The online Pittsburgh Press met with only mild success and was discontinued on September 25, 2015.

Pittsburgh Press Collection Stubs.




A Journey Through The Pittsburgh Press - 1928

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.

Delivering the Pittsburgh Press in 1957.




Former Pittsburgh Press building - 2020.
The former Press/Post-Gazette building in January 2020, twenty-eight years after the Pittsburgh Press ceased
publication and five years after the Post-Gazette moved out for their new home on the North Shore.

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