The Skagway News

History

The first edition of The Skaguay News was published on October 15, 1897, in Skaguay, Alaska. It was founded by M.L. Sherpey, and written for aspiring miners moving to the area for the Klondike Gold Rush. At various times this paper was renamed to the Skaguay Weekly News and Skaguay Daily News. The spelling of the town was changed to Skagway in 1900, and the News ceased sometime in 1904.

William Jefferson "Jeff" Brady, a 21-year-old recent graduate of the University of North Carolina, moved to Skagway to revive the Skagway News in 1978. He spent the previous two summers as a bunkhouse manager and tax driver in the tourist town. Locals called Brady "Grits" due to his Southern American accent. Skagway is a ghost town throughout the year, but the paper was aimed at folks from the visiting cruise ships that dock daily during the summer months.

In 1979, Brady, who was also nicknamed "governor," merged his paper with the Haines-based Chilkat Valley News to form the Lynn Canal News. In 1981, a fire at Fort William H. Seward destroyed Brady's office and the print shop Brady contracted. Faced with moving his printing to Juneau or Whitehorse, Brady decided to unmerge both papers in 1982. At that time the bi-weekly News had a circulation of 500 while the town had a population of 800.

Brady published the News for 37 years. After a five year search, he sold the paper to Alaska Travel Publications LLP, a subsidiary of PR Services of Whitehorse. The business was owned by Jan Aalt den Hoorn and Chris Sorg. At that time the News had two employees and a circulation of 1,000.

References

References

1. (November 2, 1897). "Just What Skaguay". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record.
2. (October 28, 1897). "Far-Off Skaguay. {{!}} The Alaskan Mud-Flat Town Has a Newspaper.". The Sacramento Union.
3. Tukker, Paul. (November 21, 2019). "Extra! Extra! Take over this small-town Alaska newspaper, for free". CBC News.
4. Alaska State Library. (2000). "Guide to Alaska Newspapers on Microfilm".
5. (October 4, 1978). "Voters Around State Go To Local Polls". Juneau Empire.
6. Jennings, Jay. (April 20, 1978). "Pioneer Editor {{!}} Student starts newspaper in faraway Skagway". [[The Daily Tar Heel]].
7. (September 2, 1982). "North Carolinan Is 'Governor' Of Skagway". Goldsboro News-Argus.
8. Reinwand, Debbie. (June 2, 1981). "Fire hits landmark in Haines". Juneau Empire.
9. Brady, Jeff. (June 8, 1981). "Hot news for Haines paper". Whitehorse Daily Star.
10. Westmoreland, Charles L.. (April 29, 2015). "Whitehorse company buys Skagway News". Juneau Empire.
11. (April 30, 2015). "PR Services of Whitehorse, Yukon buys Skagway News". Anchorage Daily News.
12. Joannou, Ashley. (May 1, 2015). "Whitehorse company buys Skagway paper". Yukon News.
13. Cantor, Matthew. (2019-12-15). "Small-town Alaskan newspaper seeks new owner. Price: $0". [[The Guardian]].
14. Staff Writer. (2020-03-13). "New owners take over Skagway News".
15. Skeggs, Fiona. (2022-02-14). "Alaskan newspaper surviving after owner gave it away for free".
16. Harris, Lauren. (23 February 2021). "'Our fates are going to be the same.'".
17. Bakke, Trygve. (2025-05-07). "The Skagway News finds future owners".