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The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief was a weekly newspaper published in St. Helens, Oregon, United States. It was formed in December 2023 by the merger of The Chronicle in St. Helens and The Chief in Clatskanie, both published by Country Media, Inc. It was the newspaper of record for Columbia County. It ceased publication in September 2024.

History

St. Helens Chronicle

The St. Helens Chronicle originated in 1881 as the Oregon Mist, later renamed to the St. Helens Mist. The paper was founded by a man named Glendye. S. C. Morton, after a decade of ownership, sold the paper in 1926 to Ira B. Hyde Jr. and George D. Borden. Miss Jessica L. Longston and Miss L. Berenice Anderson purchased the paper from Hyde in August 1929.

In 1926, the St. Helens Sentinel was established by Lew Cates and J. M. Cummins. It was soon sold to Edward. E. Brodie and then to Fred J. Tooze in 1928. He sold it a year later to Longston. In 1933, Longston merged the Mist and Sentinel together to form the St. Helens Sentinel-Mist. In 1963, Longston and A. T. Brownlow sold the paper to John M. McClelland Jr.

In 1936, a Paul Paulson founded the St. Helens Chronicle. He sold it to Gilbert and Eldridge Crouse in 1965. The Crouse brothers and McClelland bitterly feuded for years until merging their papers together in 1968 to form The Sentinel-Mist Chronicle. In 1985, the paper was sold to Earl Parsons. By then the paper's name was The Chronicle and Sentinel-Mist, finally becoming The Chronicle in 2009. That same year the newspaper was sold to Country Media, Inc.

The Clatskanie Chief

The Clatskanie Chief was founded in 1891 by F. T. Shute. In its early days it offered a bundled subscription with Better Fruit, a publication in Hood River, Oregon. E. W. Conyers, a businessman and a former state legislator, became the controlling owner in 1889. Conyers had been a lifelong Whig, and became a Republican when that party was formed. Arthur Steele purchased the paper in 1922. He was named president of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association in 1953. Arthur and his wife Melvina ran the paper until Melvina's death in 1972, when their son Gail took over. As of the early 2000s the owner was Deborah Steele Hazen. In 2014, The Clatskanie Chief 's name was changed to simply The Chief. That same year the newspaper was acquired by Country Media, Inc.

Merger and closure

In December 2023, Country Media announced The Chronicle and The Chief will merge to create a new weekly newspaper called The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief. The change was made due to declining revenue and difficulty recruiting and retaining experienced staff. Country Media president Steve Hungerford said: “Combining the two newspapers into one was a last-ditch effort to reduce expenses and reestablish profitability." But the effort was unsuccessful and after eight months the paper was closed. Its last issue was published on September 25, 2024.

References

1. "Newspapers and Genealogical Resources". University of Oregon Libraries. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
2. ^ "Announcement: The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief to close". The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief. 2024-09-11. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
3. ^ Sparling, Zane (October 15, 2024). "Two more Oregon newspapers go dark. This time in Columbia County". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
4. Rinn, Daniel. "St. Helens Mist". Historic Oregon Newspapers.
5. ^ Turnbull, George S. (1939). "Columbia County" . History of Oregon Newspapers . Binfords & Mort.
6. ^ "Columbia County's leading source for community news". The Chronicle. Aug 23, 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
7. "St. Helens Mist Sold". The Sunday Oregonian. February 28, 1926. p. 21.
8. "St. Helens Mist Sold". The Bend Bulletin. September 5, 1929. p. 1.
9. "New Paper Planned". The Oregon Daily Journal. March 2, 1926. p. 18.
10. "St. Helens Sentinel Sold". The Oregonian. January 10, 1928. p. 15.
11. "Fred J. Tooze Sells Paper At St. Helens". The Capital Journal. United Press. September 5, 1929. p. 1.
12. "Sentinel-Mist Weekly Planned". The Oregon Daily Journal. April 2, 1933. p. 5.
13. "St. Helens Paper Sold". The Oregonian. Associated Press. July 12, 1963. p. 16.
14. "St. Helens Newspapers Square Off In Bitter Feud". The Oregonian. July 29, 1965. p. 50.
15. "Papers Join At St. Helens". The Oregonian. June 20, 1968. p. 56.
16. LaBeck Stepankowsky, Paula (October 2, 1985). "New owner publishing St. Helens paper". Longview Daily News. p. 11.
17. "The Chronicle and the sentinel-mist. [volume]".
18. "St. Helens Chronicle sells to Country Media Inc". South County Spotlight. February 6, 2009. Archived from the original on February 17, 2009. Retrieved 2023-09-09.
19. ^ Bagwell, Steve; Stapilus, Randy (2013). New Editions: The Northwest's newspapers as they were, are, and will be. Carlton, Oregon: Ridenbaugh Press. ISBN 978-0-945648-10-9. OCLC 861618089.
20. "Better fruit". 1910.
21. "Republican League Register, a Record of the Republican Party in the State of". Register Pub. Co. 1896.
22. "Editor & Publisher 1953-07-04: Vol 86 Iss 28". Duncan McIntosh. 4 July 1953.
23. Walker, Bill (July 26, 1997). "Third Generation Alive And Well". Editor and Publisher.
24. "The Sven Tollifsen Family". Cumtux. Winter 2008.
25. "The Clatskanie chief" – via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
26. "The Chronicle buys Clatskanie newspaper". St. Helens Chronicle. 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
27. Perea II, Frank (December 27, 2023). "Announcement: The Chronicle and The Chief to become one weekly newspaper". St. Helens Chronicle. Retrieved 2023-12-29.

External links

• The Chronicle (official website)

• 1881 establishments in Oregon
• Newspapers published in Oregon
• Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association
• Newspapers established in 1881
• St. Helens, Oregon
• Columbia County, Oregon
• 2024 disestablishments in Oregon
• Publications disestablished in 2024