Desert Dispatch

❧

Wikipedia

Desert Dispatch
TypeDaily newspaper
OwnerGannett
FounderT.G. Nicklin
Founded1910
Ceased publication2017
LanguageEnglish
HeadquartersBarstow, California
Websitedesertdispatch.com

The Desert Dispatch was a newspaper published in Barstow, California, from 1910 to 2017.

History

On July 15, 1910, T.G. Nicklin published the first edition of the Barstow Printer.[1] Nicklin sold the paper in 1912 to F.M. LaSage.[2]

In 1933, R.E. Forbush started the Barstow Weekly Review.[3] In October 1936, Caryl Krouser purchased the Barstow Printer from Lloyd E. Tiernan, who operated the paper for two decades.[4] That November, Krouser and Forbush merged their papers to form the Barstow Printer-Review.[3]

On July 3, 1958, Charles K. Dooley, owner of the Colton Courier, published the first edition of the Desert Dispatch in Barstow.[5][6] In October 1958, Courier Enterprises, owned by Dooley, acquired the Barstow Printer-Review from Caryl Krouser and absorbed it into the Dispatch.[7] In October 1959, the paper expanded print editions to five days a week.[8] At that time it had a circulation of 30,000. A new press was installed in 1964.[9]

In 1978, Dooley sold the paper to Thomson Newspapers,[10] who traded it in 1995 to Freedom Communications.[11] As of 2011, newspaper had a daily circulation of 3,259.[12] In 2014, Freedom sold the Dispatch and Victorville Daily Press to New Media Investment Group.[13] In 2017, the paper ceased.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "To Have Newspaper | Barstow Assured of New Enterprise". The Evening Index. San Bernardino, California. May 26, 1910. p. 4.
  2. ↑ "Nicklin Lets Go Barstow Paper". The San Bernardino County Sun. October 4, 1912. p. 11.
  3. 1 2 "Barstow Editors Combine". Victor Valley News-Herald. November 27, 1936. p. 2.
  4. ↑ "New Editor And Manager Barstow Printer". Desert Dispatch. Barstow, California. October 1, 1936. p. 1.
  5. ↑ "Richard Widmark Reads Desert Dispatch". The Colton Courier. July 24, 1958. p. 2.
  6. ↑ "The origin of the Desert Dispatch". Desert Dispatch. Barstow, California. July 8, 2010. p. 6.
  7. ↑ "Courier Buys Barstow-Printer Review Paper". The Colton Courier. October 3, 1958. p. 1.
  8. ↑ "Becomes Daily After 4 Years of Planning". Desert Dispatch. Barstow, California. September 30, 1959. p. 1.
  9. ↑ "Desert Dispatch Now Printed on New Press". Desert Dispatch. Barstow, California. July 22, 1964. p. 1.
  10. ↑ "Dooley sells newspapers". The San Bernardino County Sun. October 14, 1978. p. 18.
  11. ↑ Kerber, Ross (June 20, 1995). "Freedom Communications, Thomson Swap Newspapers". The Los Angeles Times. p. 140.
  12. ↑ "Freedom Communications Inc – Desert Dispatch". Freedom Communications Inc. Archived from the original on August 24, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  13. ↑ Milbourn, Mary Ann (March 3, 2014). "Register owner sells Victorville, Barstow newspapers". Orange County Register.
  14. ↑ "End of an era: Desert Dispatch publishes last daily edition; converts to weekly next Tuesday". Victorville Daily Press. April 11, 2017. Retrieved 2025-11-07.