Star Tribune history

The new era began in March 1891 when Gilbert A Pierce and William J. Murphy purchased the Tribune from Publisher Alden J. Blethen for $450,000.

He brought to Minneapolis the first Mergenthaler typesetting machines, was an early experimenter with the use of color and introduced the first cartoon on May 4, 1894.

19, 1920 The Minneapolis Star publishes its first issue.

The Cowles family of Des Moines, Iowa looking for an opportunity to expand beyond their borders, purchased the Star in 1935.

…to approve their purchase of The Minneapolis Star, which was at the time in financial difficulties, and in 1937 John moved to Minneapolis to manage it.

The Cowles family then purchased the Minneapolis Journal in August 1939, subsequently creating the Star-Journal.

Deciding the only way to keep the Tribune growing was through a sale or merger he met with co-owner John Cowles, who agreed to a merger on April 2, 1941.

1947 Evening paper is renamed Minneapolis Star.

May 1948 Nat Finney, in the Minneapolis Tribune Washington bureau, wins a Pulitzer Prize for outstanding national affairs reporting for his stories about the Truman administration’s efforts to impose secrecy on the affairs of federal civilian agencies in peacetime.

1959 Minneapolis Star photographer Bill Seaman wins a Pulitzer Prize for photography of the aftermath of a crash in which a 9-year-old boy died.

In 1960, John Cowles Sr. appointed his son John Jr. editor of the Minneapolis Tribune and the Minneapolis Star.

Steve Sack, with the Star Tribune since 1981, wins for his editorial cartoons.

On April 5, 1982, the two newspapers were merged and the first combined issue appeared in April 5, 1982.

31, 1987 Name becomes Star Tribune Newspaper of the Twin Cities, and it prints its first St Paul edition.

April 12, 1990 Star Tribune reporters Lou Kilzer and Chris Ison win the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for “Fire in St Paul,” which exposed a thriving industry that profited from arson and suspicious fires with the assistance of firefighters.

June 1995 Launch of subscriber-based Star Tribune Online service on the Interchange network, plus initial creation of an Internet site.

June 18, 1996 StarTribune.com launches.

March 19, 1998 Shareholders approve $1.4 billion sale of Cowles Media Co., parent company of the Star Tribune, to McClatchy Newspapers of Sacramento, Calif.

26, 2006 McClatchy Co. announces the surprise $530 million sale of the Star Tribune, its largest newspaper, to Avista Capital Partners, a New York-based private investment group.

28, 2009 The Star Tribune emerges from bankruptcy.

7, 2010 Former Time Inc. executive and Fridley native Michael Klingensmith is named Star Tribune publisher.

July 2012 Wayzata Investments acquires a controlling interest in the Star Tribune by buying the portion held by Credit Suisse for $32 per share.

April 15, 2013 The Star Tribune wins two Pulitzer Prizes.

11, 2014 The Star Tribune completes the sale of five blocks in downtown Minneapolis that will be in the shadow of United States Bank Stadium, the new home of the Minnesota Vikings.

March 2015 The Star Tribune moves from its longtime home at 425 Portland Av. to the recently renamed Star Tribune Building, part of the Capella Tower complex in downtown Minneapolis.

After Prince died in 2016, the Historical Society collected the tributes that people wrote on Post-it notes and left near an exhibit of the outfit the performer wore in “Purple Rain.”

Star Tribune Essential Twin Cities Guide © 2019