The Alameda Times-Star was a newspaper in the city of Alameda, California. It originated in 1877 and ceased in 2011 after merging into the Oakland Tribune.
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Owner | Bay Area News Group |
| Founder | Truman G. Daniels |
| Founded | 1877 (as Alameda Argus) |
Ceased publication | 2011 |
| Language | English |
| City | Alameda, California |
| OCLC number | 28700318 |
History
editOn December 6, 1877, Truman G. Daniels published the first edition of the Alameda Argus.[1][2] In 1906, J. Sherman McDowell leased the Argus from Daniels who had become preoccupied with his duties as a receiver for the United States General Land Office.[3] Previously, McDowell worked as business manager of the Oakland Tribune.[4]
Two years later, two rival papers launched in the same month. On August 4, 1908, J.J. Bayard first published the Alameda Daily Star.[5][6] On August 25, 1908, Edwin C. Williams first published the Alameda Daily Times.[7] Soon afterwards, his father-in-law, who was a contractor, sued Williams to receive a $100 payment for carpenter work down on a bank basement converted into the paper's pressroom. Payment was sought to settle with several sub-contractors.[8] That December, Williams suspended the Times.[9]
In January 1909, McDowell purchased and revived the Times. At that time Daniels resumed management of the Argus.[10][11] McDowell also acquired the Star and merged his two papers together. On January 2, 1909, the first edition of the Alameda Times-Star was published.[12][13] A month later Daniels sold the Argus to Percival R. Milnes, owner of the Richmond Record.[14] Later that year Daniels sued Milnes in an attempt to foreclose a $7,000 mortgage claiming he had defaulted on interest payments.[15] Milnes made no contest and a judge returned the Argus to Daniels.[16]
In 1912, W.A. Grahn purchased the Argus,[17][18] and then merged his paper into the Times-Star. Grahn retained a minority interest.[19] In 1931, McDowell died.[20] A few months later, the paper was purchased from his widow and children by former governor Friend W. Richardson,[21] who sold it to Helim G. Spaulding and Ralph T. Meeker in 1932.[22] Meeker was bought out by Spaulding in 1934.[23] Spaulding sold the Times-Star to Abraham "Abe" Kofman in 1939.[24]
In 1949, Kofman sold the paper to William G. Werner, former owner of the Gilroy Dispatch.[25] In 1961, Kofman reacquired the paper from Werner.[26] In 1986, Kofman died.[27] A month later the Kofman family sold the Times-Star, with a circulation of 8,700, to Alameda Newspapers, Inc. a subsidiary of MediaNews Group. At that time the company was headed by William Dean Singleton.[28] In 1996, the Time-Star closed its office in Alameda and transferred its six remaining employees to the office of its sibling paper, the Oakland Tribune.[29]
In 2006, the subsidiary became the Bay Area News Group.[30] In 2011, the Times-Star was scheduled to close after merging with the Oakland Tribune, Hayward Daily Review, Fremont Argus and West County Times. Moving forward, subscribers would receive the East Bay Tribune, a localized edition of the San Jose Mercury-News.[31] The plan was changed due to reader feedback, and this resulted in the Time-Star being absorbed into the Oakland Tribune.[32]
References
edit- ↑ "Introductory". Alameda Argus. December 6, 1877. p. 2.
- ↑ "The "Alameda Argus."". Oakland Tribune. December 11, 1877. p. 3.
- ↑ "Leases Alameda Argus | Oakland Newspaperman Is To Conduct That Journal". Oakland Enquirer. October 23, 1906. p. 8.
- ↑ "J.S. McDowell As Business Manager". Oakland Tribune. July 11, 1906. p. 5.
- ↑ "Alameda Is To Have Next Paper". Oakland Tribune. July 12, 1908. p. 15.
- ↑ "New Alameda Paper Makes Appearance". Oakland Tribune. August 4, 1908. p. 5.
- ↑ "The Alameda Daily Times". Alameda Daily Times. August 25, 1908. p. 4.
- ↑ "Alameda Times Has Troubles | Lien Filed by Father-in-Law of Publisher Williams". Alameda Daily Argus. October 5, 1908. p. 1.
- ↑ "Daily Times Is Said To Have Suspended". Oakland Tribune. December 20, 1908. p. 35.
- ↑ "Management Of Alameda Papers Has Been Changed". Oakland Tribune. January 2, 1909. p. 5.
- ↑ "Buys The Almeda 'Times'". The San Francisco Examiner. January 2, 1909. p. 1.
- ↑ "The Evening Times-Star". The Evening Times-Star. Alameda, California. January 2, 1909. p. 4.
- ↑ "Alameda Newspaper". The Berkeley Gazette. January 8, 1909. p. 4.
- ↑ "Alameda Argus Changes Hands". Oakland Tribune. February 1, 1909. p. 4.
- ↑ "Daniells Wants His Paper Back". The San Francisco Call Bulletin. September 18, 1909. p. 12.
- ↑ "Forecloses Mortgage On The Alameda Argus". The San Francisco Call Bulletin. October 1, 1909. p. 9.
- ↑ "Announcement". Alameda Daily Argus. September 5, 1912. p. 2.
- ↑ "Good Speed to Old, Welcome to New". The Evening Times-Star. Alameda, California. September 16, 1912. p. 2.
- ↑ "Alameda Papers Have been Consolidated". Oakland Tribune. September 30, 1912. p. 2.
- ↑ "J. Sherman McDowell, Alameda Publisher, Dies". The Sacramento Bee. Associated Press. November 11, 1931. p. 4.
- ↑ "Richardson To Control Times-Star". Oakland Tribune. December 4, 1931. p. 26.
- ↑ Richardson, Friend W. (May 24, 1932). "Change Of Ownership". Alameda Times Star. p. 4.
- ↑ "Publisher's Announcement". Alameda Times Star. July 2, 1934. p. 4.
- ↑ "Publisher's Announcement". Alameda Times Star. September 1, 1939. p. 10.
- ↑ "Alameda Paper Is Purchased By William Werner". Martinez News-Gazette. United Press. November 1, 1949. p. 2.
- ↑ "Alameda Times Star Sold". Oakland Tribune. February 2, 1961. p. 23.
- ↑ "Publisher A. Kofman dies at 82". Oakland Tribune. June 16, 1986. p. 10.
- ↑ Tong, David (July 31, 1986). "Hayward publisher buys Alameda paper". Oakland Tribune. p. 28.
- ↑ Fimrite, Peter (June 14, 1996). "Moving Day for Times-Star / After 49 years, newspaper to leave Alameda location". SFGATE. Retrieved May 17, 2026.
- ↑ D'Agostino, Bill (April 26, 2006). "Sources: SJ Mercury sold to MediaNews". Palo Alto Weekly. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
- ↑ Avalos, George (August 23, 2011). "Bay Area News Group makes changes to East Bay papers". Oakland Tribune. Archived from the original on March 7, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
- ↑ Avalos, George (October 27, 2011). "Bay Area News Group announces it will retain East Bay mastheads". San Jose Mercury News. Oakland Tribune. Archived from the original on October 16, 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2026.