Goldfield News and Weekly Tribune Records

In 1904, James F. O’Brien and R. E. L. Windle established the first newspaper in Goldfield, Nevada, called the Goldfield News. O’Brien and Windle ran the newspaper until poor health forced O’Brien’s retirement. In January 1906, the newspaper was purchased by Charles S. Sprague of the Goldfield Publishing Company. Sprague worked to expand the newspaper, and it eventually became the principal promotional paper for mining companies of southern Nevada. Individuals from across the United States subscribed to it in order to remain apprised of the condition of mining in the Goldfield Mining District.

In 1909, Sprague introduced an evening edition called the Daily News. Both newspapers continued until March 1911 when the Goldfield Tribune Printing Company, Goldfield’s rival newspaper publisher, purchased the paper and named John C. Martin as editor and manager. Martin suspended the daily edition and renamed the weekly paper the Goldfield News and Weekly Tribune, which continued as an adjunct of the daily Tribune. In 1914, V. L. Ricketts replaced Martin and ran the paper until August 1923. In 1925, the newspaper was leased by the Esmeralda County Printing Company, with W. C. Lewis as editor.

In 1930, the daily Tribune was suspended and the Tribune Printing Company retook control. W. H. Fording was named editor and changed the name of the paper yet again to the News and Tribune. Fording served until 1933 when Al R. Hopkins became editor and manager. Hopkins served two stints as manager until February 1945, with a short break beginning in November 1939; Amos H. Dow served as editor during that time. The paper was acquired by C. R. Terrell in 1945 and sold it within a few months to a group known as the Prospector’s Friend Inc., which installed Harold V. Lankford as editor. This was the last year the paper was published in Goldfield.

In August 1946, Robert A. Crandall took over as editor and proprietor. In the hopes of gaining new subscribers, Crandall moved the printing location to Beatty, Nevada (located approximately 60 miles south of Goldfield) and named it the Beatty Bulletin in 1947. Crandall also purchased the Tonopah Times-Bonanza in 1952, and moved printing operations to Tonopah for all of the papers. The News was finally suspended in December 1956 and absorbed into the Tonopah Times-Bonanza.

The Goldfield News and Weekly Tribune, along with other local newspapers, regularly printed updates from mining companies located in the area. These updates included how much ore was removed, assay reports, and other information that was of interest to individuals, typically stockholders, who were involved in mining operations. Large numbers of subscribers from across the country subscribed to these papers in order to keep apprised of happenings in the mining towns.

[Administrative history of the newspaper taken from The Newspapers of Nevada: A History and Bibliography, 1854-1979 by Richard E. Lingenfelter and Karen Rix Gash (University of Nevada Press, 1984)]