Morris Herald-News history

A horse-racing park between Armstrong Street and Ashley Road was built in 1891.

The Kable Concert Band, organized in 1897, performs a free concert in the band shell every Wednesday evening during the summer.

In 1898 the twin 18 year old Kable brothers took over an abandoned printing shop.

The Morris Oatmeal Co. was started in 1901 by W.G. Norton and Conrad Elerding.

The second court house, made of stone and topped with a dome (removed in 1904), was built by John Van Osdel – the architect who designed Chicago’s Palmer House.

In 1909 the original building of the Kable Brothers Printing Plant was erected.

The old Morris depot built in 1911 can still be seen on the southeast corner of Benton and Liberty Street.

James Watt and A. A. Yoder purchased the Poultry Tribune Company in 1917.

But, the three stories was considered a fire hazard, so a brick building was built in 1923.

The Morris family became involved with The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle in 1929, when 26-year-old William S. Morris Jr., father of today’s CEO, became a bookkeeper at the daily newspaper.

The business purchased College Hall and was organized in 1932.

By 1933, barge travel had increased and a third bridge was built at the end of Division Street, much higher than the earlier bridge.

Naegele had been founded in 1934 by Robert O. Naegele, Sr., in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

When the first issue was printed in January of 1936 near Lafayette, California, horses were being displaced by automobiles and tractors.

In 1945, Bill Morris, his wife, Florence, and a friend purchased controlling interest in The Chronicle.

The first Grundy County Corn Festival was September 24 – October 4, 1948 sponsored by the Morris Business Men’s Association.

1955: Morris and his wife purchase the remaining interest in the Chronicle and also buy the Augusta Herald.

Radio Augusta WRDW was purchased by Southern Newspapers in 1956 and marks the beginning of over half a century of radio ownership by the Morris family.

Dresden Nuclear Power Station was the first privately financed, full-scale nuclear plant in the United States It was put into service in 1960 and to this day furnishes energy to much of Chicago and Northern Illinois.

In 1962, Wallace sold the book to the owner of the publication that was to become Alaska magazine.

A 1969 purchase of the Juneau Empire (now the Alaska Empire) brought in magazines dedicated to the Frontier State.

Morris Communications Corporation was established in 1970, with Southeastern Newspapers Corp. as a subsidiary, and descended from a corporate structure dating to the 19th century.

Four Texas dailies were acquired in 1972.

Ed and Rebecca Gray started Gray’s Sporting Journal on their kitchen table in the Fall of 1975.

MCC's online division also included Stauffer Media Systems, which was established in 1977 to offer business and accounting software designed specifically for the newspaper industry.

5, 1978, as a weekly newspaper devoted to coverage of the Quarter Horse industry with an emphasis on Quarter Horse racing.

In 1981 MCC acquired Quarter Horse News.

The same boy who delivered newspapers on horseback never lost his passion for all things equine, and in 1982 his passion for equine sports and the outdoors helped fuel the acquisition Quarter Horse News, a three-year-old magazine.

In 1983 the acquisition of Florida Publishing Co. for $200 million gave MCC its largest newspaper, the Florida Times-Union, in Jacksonville, Florida, as well as a smaller daily in St Augustine, Florida.

In 1985 Morris Communications moved into outdoor advertising with the purchase of Naegele Outdoor Advertising, Inc., later renamed Fairway Outdoor Advertising.

In 1987 MCC established Morris News Service, which became a leading supplier of regional and national news.

When Natalee Roberts founded the Northeast Equine Journal in 1988, New England was served by a fragmented marked of equine magazines and newspapers.

Morris Media Network acquired Gray’s in 1989 and continues to live up Ed and Rebecca’s standards for this unique publication, which The Washington Post once called “this little gem.” Gray’s is the original journal of fine sporting literature, art and photography.

According to the Indianapolis Business Journal, Naegele Outdoor Advertising was the third largest outdoor advertising company in the United States in 1990 with 18,000 billboards in 15 markets.

Over the ensuing years it assumed various name changes, eventually becoming the stand-alone title American Angler in January, 1991.

In August 1992 the National Barrel Horse Association was formed at a meeting at MCC's corporate offices in Augusta.

The afternoon newspaper Augusta (Ga.) Herald ceased publication in 1993.

Morris first submitted a bid for Stauffer in July 1994, competing against about 30 other companies.

The single largest expansion in numbers of properties occurred in 1995 with the purchase of all outstanding stock of Stauffer Communications, Inc., of Topeka, Kan.

MCC would begin publishing Barrel Horse News in 1996.

Horsecity.com officially went live online in 1997 and since then has reflected the deep commitment and dedication to a way of life that involves horses.

The company expanded overseas in 1998 with the acquisition of Cadogan Guides in London, England, and created the subsidiary company Morris Publications Ltd.

Others were purchased in 1999, and three related Nebraska publications were started in December 1999, giving MCC more than 20 free community papers in all.

By 2000 MCC's online division also operated a web hosting business in Augusta, hosting most of MCC's newspapers' web sites as well as hundreds of those newspapers' customers' own web sites.

Western Horseman became a part of the Morris Media Network in September of 2001.

Morris Media Network acquired skirt! in 2004, Nikki Hardin leads the brand out of Charleston overseeing its expansion to 5 print markets and 32 digital markets.

Watt Publishing Company grew into a large publishing business operating in the old Sandstone Building on the Campus until 2007.

In 2011 Morris Communications entered into a strategic partnership with NIIT Technologies, a leading information technologies solutions organization based in New Delhi, India and serving clients in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

By the time Morris Media Network acquired the Equine Journal in 2012, New England was dominated by Robert’s Equine Journal and Morris Media Network’s Horsemen’s Yankee Pedlar, and both publications had expanded to New York, Pennsylvania and beyond.

In 2013, Will lead the family in a new direction by creating and becoming CEO of Morris Venture Capital, a direct investment vehicle designed to explore new areas for locating and assisting businesses with potential for growth and expansion.

A merger of two of the most innovative entities in the Western equine industry took place in 2018 as Western Horseman and Tootie Bland’s Road to the Horse joined forces to create a powerhouse advocacy for natural horsemanship training and practices.