Grants Pass Daily Courier

History

In 1885, John H. Stine established a weekly newspaper called the Grant's Pass Courier. A few years earlier Stine had founded the Heppner Gazette. In 1886, the paper's name was changed to the Rogue River Courier. Around that time Stine sold a half-interest to W. J. Wimer. Ownership continued to change rapidly in the paper's early years. Other publishers were A. A. Allworth (1887), Frank T. Sheppard (1888), George Hoskins Currey (1889) and J. Nunan (1890).

It was at the end of Nunan's tenure that C. S. Price and Amos Earle Voorhies took charge as partners on July 1, 1897. Much of the success of the paper in its first few decades has been attributed to Voorhies, its longtime publisher. He bought out Price after two years and operated the paper for six decades. Under him, the Courier was one of the first small-town papers in Oregon to install a type-casting machine, an engraving plant and a teletypesetter.

The paper briefly published a daily bulletin in 1898 during the Spanish American War, and established regular daily publication schedule in 1910. When the Courier became a daily, Grants Pass was the smallest city in the world to have leased wire service from the United Press. In 1919, the paper's name was changed again to the Grants Pass Daily Courier so to avoid confusion after the town of Woodville was renamed to Rogue River.

In 1960, Voorhies died at age 91. The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association named an award after him given annually to the journalist who contributed the most to the profession in the state. From there, his son Earle E. Voorhies and grandson John Voorhies became co-publishers until 1971 when Earle died. John Voorhies remodeled and enlarged the plant. Over the years he refused offers to sell out to larger chains and took pride in the paper being family owned. In 2016, John Voorhies died and the paper continued to remain in his family.

When the Medford Mail-Tribune suddenly closed on January 13, 2023, the Daily Courier said it hoped to expand its coverage area to fill the gap. Around that time Josephine County commissioners voted to pull legal notices from the Courier and switch to the smaller Illinois Valley News. A month later the paper announced it had agreed to have 60 years of its archive being digitized and made available for free online via the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program at the University of Oregon.

Awards

The Daily Courier received the 2018 Baker Public Service Award from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association for its coverage of the Taylor Creek and Klondike wildfires. Reporters for the Daily Courier won the Bruce Baer Award for Oregon journalism in 1988 and 1992, as well as a special recognition in 1987.

References

References

1. (January 2020). "Subscriber Services". Grants Pass Daily Courier.
2. "Grants Pass Daily Courier". [[Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association]].
3. (2023-01-19). "Josephine Co. leaders remove notices from Daily Courier, public speaks out".
4. "Passport To History: Daily Courier, Grants Pass, Oregon". Josephine County Historical Society.
5. Brown, Ron. (April 26, 2010). "Oregon Trails: The Grants Pass Daily Courier". [[KDRV]].
6. (March 6, 1885). "Notice". Weekly Oregon Statesman.
7. Turnbull, George S.. (1939). "History of Oregon Newspapers". [[Binfords & Mort]].
8. (June 29, 1886). "Newspaper Talk.". The Oregonian.
9. (April 22, 1886). "Newspaper Talk.". The Oregonian.
10. (June 25, 1897). "A Gist of Local Haps and Mishaps". The Medford Mail.
11. (July 17, 1954). "The Courier Helm 57 Years". The News-Review.
12. (January 2, 1919). "Change In Name". Grants Pass Daily Courier.
13. (October 28, 1960). "Dean of State Publishers, Amos Voorhies, Dies at 91". Corvallis Gazette-Times.
14. Snyder, Patricia. (April 1, 2010). "Owner John Voorhies started selling papers in street in 1937". Grants Pass Daily Courier.
15. Acklen, Jerry. (April 3, 1977). "Amended editor's note {{!}} Grants Pass Courier still going strong - on its own". The Sunday Oregonian.
16. Bly, Sally. (August 17, 1977). "Note to buyers: Courier not for sale". The Capital Journal.
17. (October 31, 2016). "John Voorhies passes away".
18. Warner, Gary A.. (January 13, 2023). "Medford newspaper - state's fifth largest - suddenly shuts down.".
19. Flanagan Battistella, Maureen. (2023-02-11). "More than 60 years of Josephine County news coverage to be added to state digital archive".
20. (July 23, 2019). "Enterprise wins top state journalism honors".
21. "Bruce Baer Award - School of Journalism and Communication".