NEWSPAPER MILESTONES

For many years, the St. Louis Park Dispatch served St. Louis Park, reporting local happenings and supplementing the Minneapolis papers. Much of what we know about St. Louis Park comes from the pages of the Dispatch.  This chapter describes the precursors (and successors) to the Dispatch, and also provides a skeletal history of the Minneapolis press.

ST. LOUIS PARK NEWSPAPERS

1892: The St. Louis Park Mail was published, owned, and edited by D.W. Bath.

1901: The Hopkins News was the paper of record in St. Louis Park.

1905: The Hennepin County Enterprise was the paper of record in St. Louis Park.

1907-08: The paper of record was the Hopkins Mirror.

1909: The Village published its notices in the Minneapolis Journal.

1911-13: The Hopkins News was the paper of record in St. Louis Park.

1914: The Hennepin County Enterprise was the paper of record in St. Louis Park.

1915: The St. Louis Park Herald was edited by F. A. Harvey of Robbinsdale.  R.L. Blacktin of St. Louis Park was the assistant editor. This short-lived paper, running from May 6 to October 14, featured articles on farming, recipes, fashions, world news, jokes and witticisms, and ads for the vaudeville houses downtown. The paper reported news by neighborhood, demonstrating the unique, decentralized structure of the City that persists today, despite the work of planners and politicians to unite the City without a downtown. The neighborhoods, then and now, are Brookside, Center/Oak Hill, Fern Hill, Lenox, and the North Side (and sometimes Sunset Gables and Lake Forest). Editor Harvey was unable to convince the Village to publish its official notices in the paper, however, and the paper went under after he claimed he lost $20/month, merging with the Robbinsdale Tellit.

1916: The Hennepin County Enterprise was the St. Louis Park paper of record.

It was published by John L. Suel.

1917: The St. Louis Park paper of record was The Minneapolis Daily News in January, changed to the Hennepin County Enterprise in March. The Hennepin County Rural Messenger was suggested and rejected.

1918: The Hennepin County Rural Messenger was the paper of record.

1925-68: The Hennepin County Review was primarily a Hopkins paper, but was the newspaper of record for the Park and the best source of local information until the St. Louis Park Dispatch began in 1941. It, like the Dispatch, was replaced by the Sun in 1968. The Hopkins Historical Society has every copy, and microfilmed copies are also available. Its colorful publisher was James L. Markham.

1927-40: The Twin City Herald began publication on April 30, 1927.

1928: The Hennepin County Enterprise moved from Hopkins to Robbinsdale in December. [From Golden Valley - a History of a Minnesota City:]  Instead of the traditional one Republican and one Democratic newspaper, Hopkins found itself with two Democratic papers.  The Enterprise and the Hennepin County Review competed against one another for several years until it became clear that one would have to move.  Markham's Hennepin County Review won the coin toss, and gave Suel $2,500 "for his good will and subscription list."

1937: J. Linn Nash established The Spectator, which had been started earlier as the North Minneapolis Chronicle. Copies are available from January 6, 1945 to November 2, 1946. In
1939 it was listed with two Minneapolis addresses; in 1942 it was listed at 3550 Brunswick. 1940 cartoons included “Tubby,” “In Our Office,” and “Raising the Family.” In 1946 Nash sold The Spectator and it was published in Hopkins as the Suburban Press of Hopkins until 1952, when it was sold to J.L. Markham, the publisher of the St. Louis Park Dispatch at the time.

In December 1937, Suel's Hennepin County Enterprise, now in Robbinsdale, was purchased by H.E. Westmoreland and Richard L. Forrest.  The name was changed to the Robbinsdale Post.

1940-41: The Twin City Herald was succeeded by the Robbinsdale American.

1941-68: The St. Louis Park Dispatch was published from November 7, 1941 to 1968. The paper stated that it was a continuation of the Robbinsdale American. The Dispatch was succeeded by the Sun. The paper was widely accepted and read; in 1954, it reached 5,000 homes.

1951: The Spirit of St. Louis Park was published from August to October, 1951.

1965-66: The St. Louis Park Forum was published from February 1965 to December 1966 by Elliott B. Hoffman (with two other Hoffmans on the staff). It started off weekly and in May 1966 went monthly. Hoffman sold the paper in December 1966 but it is unclear whether it was ever published again.

1968: The St. Louis Park Sun replaced the Dispatch in March.

1996: The St. Louis Park Sun became the St. Louis Park Sun Sailor.

MINNEAPOLIS NEWSPAPERS

1851: The first newspaper of present-day Minneapolis, the St. Anthony Express, was published.

1866-1929: Minneapolis Chronicle

1867-1982: Minneapolis Daily Tribune began on May 25, 1867.  The paper was purchased by William J. Murphy in 1891 and run by the Murphy family until 1941.

1878-1939: Minneapolis Journal (evening)

1899-1948: Minneapolis Times; purchased by the Minneapolis Tribune in 1905.

1912-78: Minneapolis Mirror

1920: Minneapolis Daily Star (evening paper); became the Minneapolis Star. The first headline was “Workers Put Ban on Loop,” referring to a boycott that started with a strike of theater projectionists. The Star’s pro-labor sentiments soon yielded financial difficulties, and the paper was sold in 1924.

1934: Cecil E Newman launched the Minneapolis Spokesman, an important black newspaper. 

1935: John and Gardner (Mike) Cowles, from Des Moines, purchased the Minneapolis Star, the smallest of the city's three main papers.

1939: The Cowles purchased the Star's rival, the Minneapolis Journal and published the Star Journal, an evening and Sunday publication.

1941: The Cowles family purchased the Minneapolis Tribune and merged it with the Star Journal. They operated as separate morning and evening papers; the Sunday edition was published as the Tribune.

1980: A paper called Lake Area, published by Stephen T. Smith, covered the area from Lyndale to Highway 100, Highway 12 to 50th. It was published to at least 1985

1982: The evening Minneapolis Star and the morning Minneapolis Tribune were combined to make one daily morning paper: the Minneapolis Star and Tribune.

1987: The Minneapolis Star and Tribune was renamed the Star Tribune.

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.