Eagle Newspapers was an American newspaper publisher serving the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The company was established in 1948 and owned no publications as of 2020.
History
The origins of the company date back to 1933 when Elmo Smith and his wife, Dorothy, borrowed $25 to establish a mimeographed weekly newspaper in Ontario, Oregon. In 1948, Smith sold the paper and used the proceeds to purchase the Blue Mountain Eagle in John Day, Oregon.
That same year Smith and his friend, Bill Robinson, purchased The Madras Pioneer and the family business was incorporated. In 1961, the company purchased the Hood River News.
The company changed its name to Eagle Newspapers, Inc. in 1979.
In 2013, Eagle Newspapers sold six Oregon newspapers in Central Oregon and the Willamette Valley to the Pamplin Media Group.
In December 2019, the company sold the Idaho County Free Press in Grangeville to the paper's publisher Sarah Klement.
Due to the COVID-19 recession in the United States, Eagle Newspapers announced plans to shutter the Hood River News, The Dalles Chronicle and the White Salmon Enterprise. Instead the paper's publisher purchased them in March 2020 to Chelsea Marr. The three combined to form the Columbia Gorge News on April 8.
In April 2020, the company sold the Polk County Itemizer-Observer to SJ Olson Publishing, Inc.
Newspapers formerly published by Eagle
The Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle (Omak) Camas-Washougal Post Record Canby Herald Central Oregonian Daily Sun News (Sunnyside) The Dalles Chronicle The Enterprise (White Salmon) Hood River News Idaho County Free Press (Grangeville) The Madras Pioneer Molalla Pioneer The Newberg Graphic Polk County Itemizer-Observer (Dallas) Wilsonville Spokesman Woodburn Independent
See also
List of companies based in Oregon
References
External links
Eagle Newspapers, Inc. (official website)