The Augusta daily herald. (Augusta, Ga.) 1908-1914

 

Title:

The Augusta daily herald.

Place of Publication:

Augusta, Ga.

Geographic coverage:

  • Augusta, Richmond county

Publisher:

Herald Pub. Co.

Dates of publication:

1908-1914

Description:

  • Vol. 13, no. 254 (Sept. 14, 1908)-v. 19, no. 64 (Mar. 5, 1914).

Frequency:

Daily

Languages:

  • English

Subjects:

  • Augusta (Ga.)--Newspapers.
  • Georgia--Augusta.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01206406
  • Georgia--Richmond County.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01215116
  • Richmond County (Ga.)--Newspapers.

LCCN:

sn89053973

OCLC:

21543741

The Augusta daily herald. September 14, 1908

About

The Herald Publishing Company circulated the first issue of the Augusta Herald in November 1890 in Augusta, Georgia. This Augusta Herald is not considered a continuation of an older newspaper of the same title that circulated from 1799 to 1822. Established by former Augusta Chronicle employees, the Herald was a similarly Democratic, anti-populist, sheet whose five-dollar subscription cost was half that of the Chronicle’s. The Herald avoided direct competition, however, by circulating in the evening, while the Chronicle circulated in the morning. From 1890 to 1895, Thomas D. Murphy was the Herald’s managing editor and W. C. Casey briefly served as an assistant editor during that time. The Herald was struggling financially by 1895, but one of the paper’s original shareholders and business managers, Terry Sheron, saved the newspaper by securing Charles J. Bayne as editor-in-chief and Bowdre Phinizy as contributing editor and investor. Bayne was a well-known Augusta author and poet, and the Phinizy family carried significant influence in the Augusta area. Bowdre Phinizy had recently established a law office in Augusta after attending Harvard Law School, and his purchase of shares in the Herald Publishing Company provided enough capital to continue printing the Augusta Herald. The Savanning Morning News of August 11, 1895, noting Bowdre Phinizy’s position as part-time editor wrote, “he will not abandon his profession, but like most young lawyers he has time enough to write when he feels like and unlike most young lawyers he has money enough to invest in a newspaper as a side issue.” In April 1902, Bayne left the Herald to serve as London correspondent for the New York Press, and M. A. Owens replaced him at the editorial helm. By that time, the Herald Publishing Company printed daily, weekly, and Sunday editions of the no longer struggling Augusta Herald, and the paper’s daily circulation numbers surpassed those of the Augusta Chronicle’s.

Between 1908 and 1914, the paper circulated as the Augusta Daily Herald, before returning to the original Augusta Herald moniker. On March 22, 1916, a fire destroyed 25 blocks of Augusta, including the printing plants for both the Augusta Herald and Augusta Chronicle. Despite the destruction, both papers managed to publish reduced issues on time, using a job printer’s plant that survived the fire. After getting their initial post-fire issue circulated, the Herald moved their operations to a printing plant in Thompson, Georgia where the paper was published until a new printing plant was built in Augusta. By the 20th century, Bowdre Phinizy was majority shareholder and managing editor of the Herald, a position he held until his death in 1931. Milwee Owens took over as editor-in-chief after Phinizy’s death. In 1955, William Morris of the Southeastern Newspapers Corporation acquired the Herald, putting the publication under the same parent company as the Augusta Chronicle. The papers continued to publish separately, aside from combined Sunday editions, until the Herald was folded into the Augusta Chronicle in 1993. The Morris Communications Company continues to operate the Augusta Chronicle, which remains one of the most widely read newspaper publications in Georgia and serves as Richmond County’s legal organ.