The Atlanta evening capitol. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-1???

 

Title:

The Atlanta evening capitol.

Place of Publication:

Atlanta, Ga.

Geographic coverage:

  • Atlanta, Fulton county

Publisher:

C.S. Atwood & I.W. Avery

Dates of publication:

1885-1???

Description:

  • Began in 1885.

Frequency:

Daily (except Sun.)

Languages:

  • English

Subjects:

  • Atlanta (Ga.)--Newspapers.
  • Fulton County (Ga.)--Newspapers.
  • Georgia--Atlanta.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01204627
  • Georgia--Fulton County.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01211153

Notes:

  • Description based on: Vol. 1, no. 50 (Aug 26, 1885).

LCCN:

sn89053711

OCLC:

20071602

The Atlanta evening capitol. August 26, 1885

About

After resigning from his position as business manager of the Atlanta Journal, Charles S. Atwood formed a stock company to establish his own Atlanta-based daily newspaper, and he published the first issue of the Atlanta Evening Capitol on July 4th, 1885. Colonel Isaac W. Avery managed the editorial department, and the Capitol circulated every evening except Sunday, which positioned it as a direct competitor to the much larger Atlanta Journal. Both the Capitol and the Journal supported the Democratic Party, so Atwood utilized aggressive marketing techniques during the paper’s early months, including offering free two-month subscriptions to any new subscribers. Perhaps most notable, however, were advertisements Atwood circulated across the state declaring the Capitol as the “cheapest daily in Georgia.” The Capitol’s three-dollar subscription rate undercut the Journal’s price by two dollars. In January 1886, despite achieving 6,000 subscribers, Atwood again offered deals, this time providing three-month subscriptions as gifts to any Atlanta residents that married between January and April. For about a year, the Capitol offices occupied the same building as the Sunny South, but, in September 1886, Atwood moved his paper into its own three-story building near downtown Atlanta. In October 1886, an ailing Colonel Avery retired from the editorial department, and John T. Waterman replaced him as editor-in-chief. Waterman was a well-known newspaperman, having worked at papers such as the Houston Home Journal, Talbotton Standard, Athens Banner, Monroe Advertiser, and LaGrange Reporter. When Avery retired, he split his shares of the Capitol among Judge O. A. Lochran, S. M. Inman, and W. W. Austell. Waterman only served at the editorial helm for about a year, and he was replaced by Judge K. J. Warren, formerly of the Macon News. In August 1888, the Capitol abruptly ceased circulation and by October 1888, the paper’s entire printing outfit was up for sale. The sudden demise of the Atlanta Journal’s short-lived competitor can be gleaned from a Savannah Morning News article, published on August 24, 1888. Titled “The Collapse of the Capitol,” the article described the poor state of the Capitol’s finances. The Capitol Publishing Company was 7,000 dollars in debt, which was exacerbated when two major stockholders, Clifford L. Near and John Stocks, expressed their desire to be bought out. Atwood also failed to pay John R. Wilkinson for printing materials, which resulted in the forced mortgage of nearly all of the Capitol’s assets. The Atlanta Evening Capitol circulated for nearly four years and matched the Atlanta Journal in subscriptions, but the Capitol’s low prices and free subscriptions didn’t entice enough customers to sustain a large evening daily. The Capitol's last issue was printed on August 22, 1888.