Eagle Newspapers (Oregon)

Eagle Newspapers was an American newspaper publisher serving the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The company originated in 1948 when Elmo Smith purchased the Blue Mountain Eagle. He would later sell the paper but the company's name would be derived from that title. Smith served a partial term as Oregon Governor and upon his death the business was managed by his son Denny Smith, who rapidly grew it from three newspapers to nearly twenty in the span of two decades. By 1985, Eagle Newspapers publications accounted for nearly one-half of the weekly newspapers sold each week in Oregon.^[1] The company sold off its last paper in 2020.

The origins of the company date back to 1933 when Elmo Smith and his wife, Dorothy, borrowed $25 to establish a mimeographed pennysaver in Ontario, Oregon.^[2] In 1936, the couple bought a press and founded the Eastern Oregon Observer.^[3] Smith sold the newspaper in December 1946 to Jessica Longston and Robert Pollock.^[4] He used the proceeds in 1948 to purchase the Blue Mountain Eagle in John Day, Oregon.^[2] That same year Smith and his friend Bill Robinson purchased The Madras Pioneer and the family business was incorporated as Blue Mountain Eagle Newspapers, Inc.^[2] In 1961, the company purchased the Hood River News^[2] and the Polk County Itemizer-Observer in 1964.^[5] The Blue Mountain Eagle was sold In 1968 to Donna and John Moreau.^[6]

Elmo Smith died in 1968 and the company was inherited by his son Denny Smith. At the time he worked as a pilot for Pan American Airlines and had served as a jet fighter pilot in the Vietnam War.^[3] The new owner set a goal of buying 10 newspapers as a way to cut overall costs through consolidation and to create more opportunities for employees to advance.^[3] BME purchased the Central Oregonian in 1969.^[7] A year later the company moved its headquarters in 1970 from Dallas to Salem after a gas leak led to an explosion that destroyed its printing plant.^[3] The Eagle Web Press in Salem was completed in 1971.^[3]

The company acquired the Independence Enterprise-Herald and the Woodburn Independent in 1971; the Canby Herald in 1972; Goldendale Sentinel in 1974; Polk Sun of Monmouth in 1975;^[3] White Salmon Enterprise,^[8] Molalla Pioneer and North Willamette News in 1976;^[9] and The Dalles Reminder, Sheridan Sun and Lake Oswego Review in 1978.^[3]

BME purchased the Polk Sun of Monmouth in 1975 from Frank Parchman, and then merged it with the Independence Enterprise-Herald to form the Sun-Enterprise.^[10] A year later BME merged operations with the owners of the North Willamette News of Aurora in 1976. The deal included the Molalla Pioneer and Wilsonville News along with the BME-owned newspapers Canby Herald and Woodburn Independent.^[9]

The company's name was shortened to Eagle Newspapers, Inc. in 1979 when it merged with newspaper publishing companies in Hood River and Hermiston.^[3] Eagle pooled resources with Jerry Reed, who owned the Hermiston Herald, in a stock-for-stock exchange along with Dick Nafsinger, who owned the remaining shares in Hood River News which had been operating as a subsidiary of Eagle.^[11] That same year Eagle launched the free weekly Tualatin Valley Observer, which ceased after three years.^[12]

In 1981,^[13] Joe Blaha, who worked at Eagle, founded the West Linn Tidings.^[14] That same year Eagle acquired the Idaho County Free Press ^[15] and sold the Sheridan Sun to its publisher.^[11] In 1984, Eagle bought the Sunnyside Sun^[16][17] and sold the Goldendale Sentinel to A.J. and Lynda McNab.^[18] That same year Jerry Reed divested from Eagle Newspapers and regained full ownership of the Hermiston Herald.^[19]

The company purchased the Newberg Graphic in 1985.^[20] Also in 1985, Eagle entered into an agreement with The Guard Publishing Co., which owned the The Register-Guard, to manage its five weekly newspapers in Washington County. The papers were operated by its subsidiary Times Publishing Co. and included the Valley Times in Beaverton, Tigard Times, Tualatin Times, Forest Grove News-Times and Cornelius Times.^[1] In 1987, the Lake Oswego Review (which also published the Lake Oswego Review and West Linn Tidings) was merged into Times Publishing Co. and Eagle obtained part ownership of the new joint venture,^[21] which was called Community Newspapers, Inc.^[22] The business was sold to Steve Clark in 1996.^[23]

Eagle purchased the Daily News of Sunnyside and merged it with Sunnyside Sun in 1986 to form the Daily Sun News.^[24] Eagle also bought Daily Shipping News in 1995,^[25] The Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle in 1996,^[26]and The Dalles Chronicle from Pulitzer in 1996.^[27]

In October 2004, the company sold the Camas-Washougal Post Record to The Columbian Publishing Co.^[28] In January 2013, Eagle sold six newspapers in Central Oregon and the Willamette Valley to the Pamplin Media Group. The sale included the Canby Herald, Madras Pioneer, Molalla Pioneer, Newberg Graphic, Wilsonville Spokesman and Woodburn Independent.^[29][30] In June 2013, Eagle also sold Pamplin the Central Oregonian and its printing facility in Prineville.^[31]

In 2018, the company sold the Daily Sun News to Andy McNab, who renamed it back to the Sunnyside Sun.^[32] A year later Eagle sold the Idaho County Free Press in Grangeville to the paper's publisher Sarah Klement.^[33] The Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle was also sold in 2019 to the paper's manager J. Louis Mullen.^[26]

Due to the COVID-19 recession in the United States, Eagle Newspapers announced plans to shutter the Hood River News, The Dalles Chronicle and the White Salmon Enterprise.^[34] Instead the paper's publisher Chelsea Marr purchased them in March 2020.^[35] The three were combined to form the Columbia Gorge News on April 8.^[36][37]

In April 2020, the company sold the Polk County Itemizer-Observer to SJ Olson Publishing, Inc.^[38][39]

• List of companies based in Oregon

• Eagle Newspapers, Inc. (official website)