The following is a list of Northern California daily newspapers with circulations of 10,000 or more. Much of the historical information is from Wikipedia and conforms to its Terms of Use.
Contra Costa Times
Founded: 1947
Location: Walnut Creek
Owner: MediaNews Group
Website: www.contracostatimes.com
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_Costa_Times
Profile: The Times was founded by Dean Lesher in 1947, and served central Contra Costa, especially Walnut Creek. However, Lesher began expanding by purchasing weekly newspapers in neighboring communities Lesher died May 13, 1993. On August 29, 1995, his widow Margaret sold the privately held company to the Knight Ridder newspaper chain for $360 million. Knight Ridder was later purchased by the Sacramento-based McClatchy Company in June 2006 in a deal valued at $4.5 billion. (Source: Wikipedia)
Eureka Times-Standard
Founded: 1854
Location: Eureka
Owner: MediaNews Group
Website: www.times-standard.com
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times-Standard
Profile: The Times-Standard is the only major local daily newspaper covering the far North Coast of California. Headquartered in Eureka, the paper provides coverage of international, national, state and local news in addition to entertainment, sports, and classified listings. In 1854, the Humboldt Times began publishing in what is known today as Old Town Eureka. The first issue of the Humboldt Times was printed on September 2, 1854. Another daily newspaper, the Humboldt Standard, began publishing in 1875. After a lengthy period of spirited competition and then a period of joint ownership with separate operations, the two papers merged in 1967 to form what is now the Times-Standard. (Source: Wikipedia)
Fresno Bee
Founded: 1922
Location: Fresno
Owner: McClatchy Company
Website: www.fresnobee.com
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fresno_Bee
Profile: The Bee serves Fresno and surrounding counties in the San Joaquin Valley. It is owned by McClatchy Company and ranks fourth in circulation among the company’s newspapers. The Fresno Bee was founded in 1922 by the McClatchy brothers Charles Kenny (C.K.) and Valentine Stuart (V.S.), sons of The Sacramento Bee‘s second editor James McClatchy. C.K.’s only son Carlos McClatchy became The Fresno Bee’s first editor. The two Central Valley newspapers, closely linked by family ownership and editorial philosophy, formed the core of what later grew into The McClatchy Company. (Source: Wikipedia)
The Daily Review
Founded: 1944
Location: Hayward
Owner: MediaNews Group
Website: www.insidebayarea.com/daily-review
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Review
Profile: Floyd L. Sparks was founding owner of the Review from 1944 to 1985, along with The Argus of Fremont and the Tri-Valley Herald. The Review is now owned by Bay Area News Group-East Bay (BANG-EB), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group, which bought the paper in 1985. The newspaper was scheduled to stop publishing, with the last edition of the paper to be published on November 1, 2011. This was on the same day as the Oakland Tribune, Alameda Times-Star, Fremont Argus and West County Times were all scheduled to publish their last editions. The following day, subscribers and newspaper outlets were to get copies of the new East Bay Tribune, a proposed localized edition of the San Jose Mercury News, covering the areas previously served by the above-mentioned papers. This plan, proposed in mid 2011, was cancelled in October 2011, because of reader feedback. (Source: Wikipedia)
Marin Independent Journal
Founded: 1861
Location: Novato
Owner: MediaNews Group
Website: www.marinij.com
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_Independent_Journal
Profile: The Independent Journal—or IJ—was formed from the merger of the Marin Journal and the San Rafael Daily Independent in 1948. The weekly Journal, one of the state’s oldest newspapers, had been established in 1861 as the Marin County Journal. Harry Granice had started the Independent in 1900 as the weekly San Rafael Independent, which became a daily by 1903 under the management of his daughter, Celeste Granice Murphy. The merged paper was originally called the San Rafael Independent-Journal. (Source: Wikipedia)
Modesto Bee
Founded: 1884
Location: Modesto
Owner: McClatchy Company
Website: www.modbee.com
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Modesto_Bee
Profile: The Bee was founded in 1884 as the Daily Evening News and published continuously as a daily under a variety of names. Prior to its purchase by Charles K. McClatchy and McClatchy Newspapers in 1924, it merged in the same year with the Modesto News-Herald, adopting that name as part of a consolidation. In 1933 it changed its name to the Modesto Bee and News-Herald, and in 1975 abbreviated the name on its masthead to the Modesto Bee. Its current owner is the descendant firm, McClatchy Company, an American newspaper corporation. (Source: Wikipedia)
Monterey County Herald
Founded: 1929
Location: Monterey
Owner: Digital First Media
Website: www.montereyherald.com
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monterey_County_Herald
Profile: The Herald, with offices in downtown Monterey, California, was produced at Ryan Ranch on the Monterey Peninsula from 1990-2014. It previously appeared as The Monterey Peninsula Herald, with editorial offices on Pacific Street in Monterey, California. The newspaper was founded and long published by Colonel Allen Griffin, and its long-time editor-in-chief was Edward Kennedy. Kennedy, as an Associated Press correspondent, had won celebrity, and considerable criticism, in the closing days of World War II by announcing Germany‘s surrender one day before that announcement was supposed to have been made. (Source: Wikipedia)
Napa Valley Register
Founded: 1863
Location: Napa
Owner: Lee Enterprises
Website: http://napavalleyregister.com
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napa_Valley_Register
Profile: The Register began publication on August 10, 1863. By 1864, the newspaper had dropped “Valley” from its name, becoming simply the Napa Register until returning to the original name over a century later. Covering a community more known for its wheat crop than wine grapes, the early Register would be unrecognizable to modern readers. A forum for gossip, tall-tales, opinion, moral instruction, aphorisms, propaganda, entertainment and, sporadically, hard news, the Register was one of the top two newspapers of early Napa. The Register moved to daily publication in 1872. (Source: Wikipedia)
Oakland Tribune
Founded: 1874
Location: Oakland/San Jose
Owner: MediaNews Group
Website: www.insidebayarea.com/oakland-tribune
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_Tribune
Profile: The Tribune became a major paper under William E. Dargie (1854–1911), who acquired the paper July 24, 1876. The Tribune was a solid Republican newspaper under Dargie and (later) the Knowlands. Dargie was a news innovator in several ways: 1876, wire service dispatches; 1877, a book and job department added; 1878, when the Bell Telephone System arrived in Oakland, one of the first telephones was installed at the Tribune—Number 46; 1883, a Saturday edition was introduced; 1887, special editions; 1888, an extra for the presidential election. On August 28, 1891, the name Oakland Tribune was officially adopted. When San Francisco newspapers were destroyed in the earthquake and fire of April 18, 1906, The Tribune printed many “extras.” Dargie lent the Tribune’s presses for a joint edition of the San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle-Call. In the aftermath of the conflagration, San Francisco Mayor Eugene E. Schmitz, declared The Oakland Tribune the official San Francisco newspaper. In 1979, Robert Maynard took over as editor of The Oakland Tribune and became the first African American to own a major metropolitan newspaper after purchasing the paper four years later. (Source: Wikipedia)
Redding Record Searchlight
Founded: 1938
Location: Redding
Owner: Journal Media Group
Website: www.redding.com
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redding_Record_Searchlight
Profile: Redding’s first newspaper was the Shasta Courier, founded in the 1850s. Then, when Redding was incorporated, in 1887, the name was changed to the Redding Independent. On October 17, 1938, the John P. Scripps Newspaper Group published the first edition of the Redding Record, which after a series of acquisitions became the region’s dominant daily newspaper under the nameplate Redding Record Searchlight. (Source: Wikipedia)
Sacramento Bee
Founded: 1857
Location: Sacramento
Owner: McClatchy Company
Website: www.sacbee.com
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sacramento_Bee
Profile: Under the name The Daily Bee, the first issue of the newspaper was published on February 3, 1857, proudly boasting that “the object of [the Sacramento Bee] is not only independence, but permanence.” At this time, the Bee was in competition with the Sacramento Union, a newspaper founded in 1851. Although the Bee soon surpassed the Union in popularity, the Union survived until its closing in 1994, leaving the Sacramento Bee to be the longest running newspaper in Sacramento’s history. (Source: Wikipedia)
Sacramento Union
Founded: 1851
Location: Sacramento
Owner: Defunct, 1994
Website: None
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sacramento_Union
Profile: The Union, founded in 1851, was the oldest daily newspaper west of the Mississippi River before it closed its doors after 143 years in January 1994, no longer able to compete with The Sacramento Bee, which was founded in 1857, just six years after the Union. Under the direction of its first editor, Dr. John F. Morse, who had attracted proprietors through letters to the New Orleans Delta and well-known literary attainments, The Union was initially printed as The Daily Union on March 19, 1851. Upon the front page of this 23-inch by 34-inch paper, Morse addressed the readers of The Union, committing to “publish the first news in the best style and at the lowest prices” and “to have an efficient correspondent in every important town and mining region in the state.” The Union’s famous slogan was “The Oldest Daily in the West.” The Union’s early years are also recognized for their famous contributors, including Mark Twain and Bret Harte. (Source: Wikipedia)
Salinas Californian
Founded: 1871
Location: Salinas
Owner: Gannett Company
Website: www.thecalifornian.com
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Salinas_Californian
Profile: The Californian is one of the oldest continuously publishing newspapers in California. Since its inception, The Salinas Californian’s mission is to serve the common good with a special emphasis on local reporting. It has expanded its media tools to include video reports, documentaries, photo galleries, and live feeds—all available on multiple formats. The Californian also produces El Sol, a Spanish-language weekly paper that has served Monterey County for 46 years. (Source: Wikipedia)
San Francisco Bulletin
Founded: 1850
Location: San Francisco
Owner: Merged 1929
Website: None
History: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Bulletin
Profile: The San Francisco Bulletin was founded in 1850 during the Gold Rush in California by James W. Simonton (1823-1882), a journalist who later participated in the creation of the New York Times in 1851. He later became director of the Associated Press from 1866 to 1882. The Bulletin merged in 1929 with The Call to become the Call-Bulletin. In 1959 the San Francisco Call-Bulletin merged with Scripps-Howard’s San Francisco News becoming the News-Call Bulletin. In 1965 the paper merged with the San Francisco Examiner. (Source: Wikipedia)
San Francisco Call
Founded: 1856
Location: San Francisco
Owner: Merged 1913
Website: None
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Call
Profile: Between December 1856 and March 1895 The San Francisco Call was named The Morning Call, but its name was changed when it was purchased by John D. Spreckels. In the period from 1863 to 1864 Mark Twain worked as one of the paper’s writers. In 1913 M. H. de Young, owner of the San Francisco Chronicle, purchased the paper and sold it to William Randolph Hearst who brought in editor Fremont Older, former editor of the San Francisco Evening Bulletin. In December of that year (1913), Hearst merged The San Francisco Call with the Evening Post and the papers became The San Francisco Call & Post. Its most famous editor, crusading journalist Fremont Older agitated for years against civic corruption and colluded with wealthy San Franciscan sugar baron Rudolph Spreckels to bring down the Mayor, Eugene Schmitz and political boss, Abe Ruef. In 1929, the newspaper name was changed again to the San Francisco Call-Bulletin, when the San Francisco Call & Post merged with the San Francisco Bulletin. In 1959 the San Francisco Call-Bulletin merged with Scripps-Howard’s San Francisco News becoming the News-Call Bulletin. In 1965 the paper merged with the San Francisco Examiner. (Source: Wikipedia)
San Francisco Chronicle
Founded: 1865
Location: San Francisco
Owner: Hearst Corporation
Websites: www.sfchronicle.com; www.sfgate.com
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Chronicle
Profile: The Chronicle was founded in 1865 as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The paper is currently owned by the Hearst Corporation, having bought it from the de Young family in 2000. The paper benefited from the growth of San Francisco and was the largest circulation newspaper on the West Coast of the United States by 1880. The newspaper publishes two web sites: SFGate, which has a mixture of online news and web features, and sfchronicle.com which more closely reflects the type of articles that typically appear in print. (Source: Wikipedia)
San Francisco Examiner
Founded: 1863
Location: San Francisco
Owner: San Francisco Media Company
Website: www.sfexaminer.com
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_San_Francisco_Examiner
Profile: The Examiner was founded in 1863 as the Democratic Press, a pro-Confederacy, pro-slavery, pro-Democrat party paper opposed to Abraham Lincoln, but after his assassination in 1865, the paper’s offices were destroyed by a mob, and starting on June 12, 1865, it was called the Daily Examiner. In 1880, mining engineer and entrepreneur George Hearst bought the Examiner. Seven years later, after being elected to the U.S. Senate, he gave it to his son, William Randolph Hearst, who was then 23 years old. The elder Hearst “was said to have received the failing paper as partial payment of a poker debt.” William Randolph Hearst changed the Examiner from an evening to a morning paper. Under him, the paper’s popularity increased greatly, with the help of such writers as Ambrose Bierce, Mark Twain, and the San Francisco-born Jack London. (Source: Wikipedia)
San Francisco News
Founded: 1903
Location: San Francisco
Owner: Merged 1959
Website: None
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._W._Scripps_Company
Profile: San Francisco News Founded 1903. The E. W. Scripps Company was incorporated on December 1, 1987, but it traces its history to November 2, 1878, when Edward Willis Scripps published the first issue of the Cleveland Penny Press. In 1894, E. W. Scripps and his half-brother, George H. Scripps, organized their various papers into the first modern newspaper chain. In July 1895, it was named the Scripps-McRae League with the addition of Cincinnati Post general manager Milton A. McRae as a partner. On November 29, 1921, it was renamed Scripps-Howard Newspapers, to recognize Roy W. Howard. The News merged with the Hearst’s San Francisco Call-Bulletin to form The News-Call Bulletin in 1959. Hearst acquired complete control in 1962 and merged it into the San Francisco Examiner in 1965. (Source: Wikipedia)
San Francisco News Call Bulletin
Founded: 1959 (Merger)
Location: San Francisco
Owner: Merged 1965
Website: None
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Call
Profile: The San Francisco Call, through a succession of mergers with other newspapers, variously came to be called The San Francisco Call & Post, the San Francisco Call-Bulletin, San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, and the News-Call Bulletin before finally merging with the San Francisco Examiner and losing “news,” “call,” and “bulletin.” The “San Francisco Examiner News Call Bulletin” was a brief name that existed in 1965 as the newspapers completed the merger. (Source: Wikipedia)
San Jose Mercury News
Founded: 1851
Location: San Jose
Owner: MediaNews Group
Website: www.mercurynews.com
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Jose_Mercury_News
Profile: The Mercury was founded in 1851 as the San Jose Weekly Visitor, while The News was founded in 1883. In 1942, the Mercury purchased the News and continued publishing both newspapers, with the Mercury as the morning paper and the News as the evening paper. In 1983, the newspapers were merged into the San Jose Mercury News, with morning and afternoon editions. The afternoon edition was later abandoned. The paper says that the name “Mercury” refers to the importance of the mercury industry during the California Gold Rush. Because of its location in Silicon Valley, the Mercury News has covered many of the key events in the history of computing. (Source: Wikipedia)
San Luis Obispo Tribune
Founded: 1869
Location: San Luis Obispo
Owner: McClatchy Company
Website: www.sanluisobispo.com
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tribune_(San_Luis_Obispo)
Profile: The Tribune was created in 1939 from a combination of three newspapers founded between 1869 and 1905, and was later acquired by the E. W. Scripps Company. Scripps traded the paper, along with The Monterey County Herald, to Knight Ridder in 1997, in exchange for the Boulder Daily Camera. The McClatchy Company took over the paper on June 27, 2006 when it acquired Knight Ridder. (Source: Wikipedia)
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Founded: 1856
Location: Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley
Owner: MediaNews Group
Website: www.santacruzsentinel.com
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Cruz_Sentinel
Profile: The Sentinel is a daily newspaper published in Santa Cruz, California, covering Santa Cruz County, California, and owned by MediaNews Group Inc. Aside from its main office in Scotts Valley, the Sentinel has a Pajaro Valley news bureau in Watsonville, California. The paper has reporters assigned to beats such as agriculture, county government and surfing. Ottaway Community Newspapers, a division of Dow Jones & Company bought the paper in 1982 from the McPherson family. Community Newspaper Holdings bought the Sentinel in late 2006 from Ottaway but quickly sold it, February 2, 2007, to MediaNews Group. (Source: Wikipedia)
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Founded: 1897
Location: Santa Rosa
Owner: Sonoma Media Investments
Website: www.pressdemocrat.com
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Press_Democrat
Profile: The Press Democrat, with the largest circulation in California’s North Bay Area, was founded in 1897 by Ernest L. Finley who merged his Evening Press and Thomas Thompson’s Sonoma Democrat (originally created as a voice for the Democratic Party). Finley also bought the Santa Rosa Republican in 1927 and merged it with the Press Democrat in 1948. Finley, his wife Ruth, daughter Ruth, and son-in-law Evert Person owned and published the “PD” between 1897 and 1985. Evert and Ruth Finley Person sold the paper to The New York Times Company in 1985. It is currently owned by Sonoma Media Investments. (Source: Wikipedia)
Vallejo Times Herald
Founded: 1922
Location: Vallejo
Owner: MediaNews Group
Website: www.timesheraldonline.com/
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vallejo_Times_Herald
Profile: Luther Gibson founded the Vallejo Herald in 1922. Later that year, he purchased the Vallejo Times and merged the papers. He owned the paper until 1974, when he sold it to the Donrey Media Group. It is now owned by MediaNews Group, which took control of the paper from Donrey in 1999. (Source: Wikipedia)