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The Philadelphia Inquirer history
The Philadelphia Inquirer company history timeline
The Philadelphia Inquirer history journey begins with its founding on June 1, 1829 by a young printer named John R. Walker and John Norvell, who had previously been editor of the Aurora & Gazette, the city’s largest daily newspaper at the time.
Eleven years later, in 1829 he purchased the "Pennsylvania Inquirer," which had been publishing for just a few months.
When Harding bought and merged the Morning Journal in January 1830, the newspaper was moved to South Second Street.
After Harding acquired The Pennsylvania Inquirer, it was briefly published as an afternoon paper before returning to its original morning format in January 1830.
1835: The Daily Transcript begins printing.
March 25, 1836: Philadelphia Public Ledger begins printing, soon after absorbing the Philadelphia Transcript.
Jesper finally threw his support to the anti-Jackson factions and during the election of 1836 supported William Henry Harrison, the Whig Party candidate.
1839: Inquirer merges with the Daily Courier, briefly known as “The Pennsylvania Inquirer and Daily Courier.”
1839: North American absorbs American Daily Advertiser to form the North American and Daily Advertiser.
Eleven years later, in 1840, the paper's publisher, Jesper Harding, pulled a coup.
By 1840, the Pennsylvania Inquirer had established itself as a major Philadelphia newspaper, moving into its own building on the corner of Third Street and Carter’s Alley.
The expanded content included the addition of fiction, and in 1840, Harding gained rights to publish several Charles Dickens novels for which Dickens was paid a significant amount.
February 15, 1845: “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe first published in the Inquirer
1845: The Inquirer is called “The Pennsylvania Inquirer and National Gazette.” 1845: North American absorbs the United States Gazette, rebranding as the North American and United States Gazette.
1847: American Sentinel rebranded as the Evening Telegraphic Bulletin.***
1850: the North American absorbs the American Daily Advertiser, the frequently renamed ancestor of the Pennsylvania Packet.
In 1850, The Packet was merged with another newspaper, The North American, which later merged with the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
In 1856, Jesper Harding’s son William became a partner, and three years later, following his father’s retirement, took control of the Pennsylvania Inquirer.
Harding retired in 1859 and was succeeded by his son William White Harding, who had become a partner three years earlier.
The newspaper has been reported to have provided one of the most objective news coverage of the conflict. It was he who changed the publication's name to the Philadelphia Inquirer the next year (April 1860). However, Jesper didn't go out to pasture.
Inquirer journalist Uriah Hunt Painter was at the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861, a battle which ended in a Confederate victory.
1863: Daily Age begins publishing daily.
In 1863 the Inquirer became one of the first daily newspapers to use a web-fed rotary press that could print on both sides of the paper at once.
1864: Evening Telegraph begins publishing daily.
There were also others like the Philadelphia Record, founded in 1870.
1876: The Philadelphia Public Ledger absorbs the North American, briefly publishing as “The Public Ledger and North American.”
His first business endeavor was in Boston as publisher and owner of "The People's Ledger." He moved to Philadelphia where he started "The Tribune and Farmer" in 1879.
Elverson started "Golden Days" in 1880, a weekly for boys and girls.
June 25, 1882: Philadelphia Record begins publishing daily.
1884: Philadelphia Tribune begins printing.
Despite Philadelphia's population growth, distribution fell from 70,000 during the Civil War to 5,000 in 1888.
Beginning in 1889, the paper was sold to publisher James Elverson.
Two Pennsylvania governors awarded his "rank" and he was said to be a "fun-loving rogue with a high appreciation of beautiful women and fine sipping whiskey." The Elversons had no children, so the paper's ownership went to the Colonel's sister, Eleanor, who had married Jules Patenotre in 1894.
The town Elverson, Pennsylvania was named after him in 1899.
At the 1900 convention, Elverson voted for the re-election of President William McKinley.
1902: Public Ledger absorbs the Philadelphia Times.
After Elverson's death in 1911, his son by his wife Sallie Duvall, James Elverson Jr. took charge.
1920: The Philadelphia Press is bought by the famed Curtis Publishing Company, which renamed the formerly Ben Franklin-owned Pennsylvania Gazette to the Saturday Evening Post.
The first Inquirer issue printed at the building came out on July 13, 1925.
In 1925, the Inquirer moved to the brand new $10 million Elverson Building on the corner of Broad and Callowhill.
During 1928, Edward Filene, a Boston merchant, who introduced "Filene's Basement" at William Filene and Sons, the company started by his dad, tried to persuade Curtis to purchase the Vienna based newspaper "'Neue Freie Presse" but Cyrus declined.
Elverson Jr. died a few years later in 1929 and his sister, Eleanor Elverson, Mrs.
Cyrus Curtis and Curtis-Martin Newspapers Inc. bought the newspaper on March 5, 1930.
Based in France, neither Eleanor nor her son wished to run a Philadelphia-based newspaper, and sold the majority (51%) share to Cyrus Curtis in 1930 for $11 million.
When his father died in 1933, Knight took over as publisher and built on his father’s foundation.
Late in 1933, Moses Annenberg and a small group of investors purchased the Miami Beach Tribune.
April 16, 1934: Inquirer absorbs the Public Ledger, adds a Sunday edition
Daily circulation of the Philadelphia Inquirer grew from around 280,000 copies in July 1936 to 345,000 copies two years later.
Late in 1937, the Miami Herald (Annenberg's main competitor) was sold to John Knight, an Ohio publisher, for two and a half million dollars.
By 1938, it had moved ahead of the Record once again, and broke the one million mark for its Sunday circulation.
Annenberg pleaded guilty before his trial and was sent to prison where he died in 1942.
1, 1947 Philadelphia Record, owned by J. David Stern and facing a ‘crippling strike,’ bought by Evening Bulletin for $13 million, adding a Sunday edition and picking up radio station WCAU, which had recently launched a TV station.
In 1957 Annenberg bought the Philadelphia Daily News and combined the Daily News' facilities with The Inquirer's.
However, in 1962, an Inquirer-commissioned historian traced The Inquirer to John Dunlap's The Pennsylvania Packet, which was founded on October 28, 1771.
One of the few star reporters remaining, Harry Karafin, was found in 1967 to have spent the previous eight years withholding and suppressing stories of corruption and scandal in return for a monetary bribe from those with something to lose.
In 1969, Annenberg was offered US$55 million for The Inquirer by Samuel Newhouse, but having earlier promised John S. Knight the right of first refusal of any sale offer, Annenberg sold it to Knight instead.
Both newspapers were included in the merger of the Knight and Ridder groups in 1974; each, however, maintained editorial independence. It was acquired in 1969 by John S. Knight, along with the afternoon tabloid Philadelphia Daily News.
On New Year’s Day 1970, Knight Newspapers Inc. acquired the Philadelphia Inquirer for a fee of $55 million.
Both newspapers were included in the merger of the Knight and Ridder groups in 1974; each, however, maintained editorial independence.
The Ridder newspaper chain and Knight Newspapers merged in 1974 to form the Knight Ridder Newspapers group (later renamed Knight Ridder, Inc.). Other papers owned by the group include The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Kansas City Star, the San Jose Mercury News, and the St Paul Pioneer Press.
Philadelphia Daily News in full text from 1/4/1978 – Present (includes sporadic gaps in coverage) Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
Philadelphia Inquirer in full text from 1/1/1981 – Present (includes sporadic gaps in coverage) Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
November 1995: Philly.com is launched Jan.
On Saturday, November 2, 2002, The Philadelphia Inquirer announced:
Knight Ridder was bought by rival The McClatchy Company in June 2006.
In 2006 the McClatchy Company acquired Knight Ridder; McClatchy subsequently sold the Inquirer and the Daily News, which passed through a succession of owners.
Despite efforts to cut costs, Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on February 21, 2009.
A bankruptcy auction was held on April 28, 2010.
October 2010: Philadelphia Media Network announces plans to leave the Inquirer Building for the former Strawbridge Building at Eighth and Market streets.
In 2011, the Inquirer’s owner Philadelphia Media Network sold the Inquiry Building, the paper’s home of 86 years.
The Philadelphia Media Network moved to the new location in July 2012, consolidating the offices entirely on the third floor.
In 2016, Lenfest donated PMN to The Philadelphia Foundation, so that The Inquirer, its sister newspaper, the Daily News, and their joint website, Philly.com, could remain in Philadelphia.
In 2019, Philadelphia Media Network was renamed from Philly.com to Inquirer.com and made the Daily News an edition of The Inquirer.
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The Philadelphia Inquirer competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Times | 1881 | $780.0M | 2,052 | 13 |
| Gannett | 1906 | $3.2B | 21,255 | 141 |
| Newsweek | 1933 | $44.4M | 350 | 5 |
| Tribune Media | 1847 | $2.0B | 8,200 | 24 |
| The Cornell Daily Sun | 1880 | $16.0M | 157 | - |
| HuffPost | 2005 | $40.0M | 1,898 | - |
| Columbia Daily Spectator | 1877 | $7.4M | 75 | - |
| Boston Herald | 1846 | $56.0M | 811 | - |
| Advance Publications | 1922 | $2.4B | 12,000 | - |
| Graham Holdings | 1947 | $4.8B | 11,500 | 58 |
The Philadelphia Inquirer history FAQs
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