First Newspaper West of the Allegheny Mountains, the Gazette, of Pittsburgh, Established July 29, 1786

The first newspaper published west of the Allegheny Mountains was the Pittsburgh Gazette which made its initial bow to the public, July 29, 1786, and today, one hundred and thirty-eight years later, it is the largest paper published in the world’s greatest industrial district.

When the United States were yet very young, in fact, before the Federal Constitution was even proposed, before Washington was elected president, when the small cluster of log huts, protected by a stockade called Fort Pitt, was all that constituted Pittsburgh, is the time this old newspaper began its long and honorable career.

Early in the year 1786, John Scull and Joseph Hall rode into that western frontier post on the backs of heavy pack horses, over a long and rough trail, all the way from Philadelphia. They brought with them a small printing press, some type and a small supply of paper.

The pioneer printers established a printing office in a log cabin, along the bank of the Monongahela River, at the end of Chancery Lane. This primitive office soon attracted the attention of the more progressive citizens, among whom was Hugh H. Brackenridge, a lawyer, and an acknowledged leader of the Federal party in that section of Pennsylvania. Through his earnest solicitation and promise of patronage, Scull and Hall determined to establish a weekly newspaper. Brackenridge had agreed to edit the publication; and the first issue of the Pittsburgh Gazette appeared July 29.

The original subscription price was seventeen shillings and six pence per year. Advertising was paid for at the rate of four shillings a square. In lieu of cash, the publishers made known the fact that they would accept furs and skins and various kinds of country produce.

There was no postoffice in Pittsburgh at this time, nor for twenty years after the Gazette was established. The paper found its way east by means of the weekly mail service between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. 518When Pittsburgh was considered a place of sufficient importance to have a postoffice, John Scull, one of the publishers of the Gazette, was appointed Postmaster.

It is rather fortunate that the duties of the government position were not too exacting, for Postmaster Scull was the practical printer and performed the principal part of the actual publication. He even acted as carrier and tramped about town each week with the paper.

The story is told of Scull that when the pack trains from Philadelphia failed to arrive on time, or no white paper came when expected, that he used his close friendship for the commandant at Fort Pitt to his advantage by borrowing sufficient quantity of cartridge paper on which to print that week’s issue of the Gazette.

On November 10, 1786, the Gazette, in three lines announced the death of Joseph Hall, aged 22 years. Hall’s interest was acquired by John Boyd, but Scull as before, continued to be the real spirit behind the enterprise.

In June, 1789, a paper mill was built on Redstone Creek, in what is now Fayette County, by Jackson and Sharpless. This mill supplied the Gazette with cheaper paper, which enabled the owners to increase its size and reduce the subscription price to $2 a year.

Lawyer BrackenridgeBrackenridge, in 1799, left the Federal party and threw all his influence with the Antifederalists, but Scull refused to go along with his editor, and Morgan Neville became the editorial writer.

BrackenridgeBrackenridge and some of his adherents set up an opposition paper called the “Tree of LifeLife.” Soon both papers were busy with libel suits, assaults and challenges to fight duels.

When the conflict of 1812 was precipitated the Gazette, like the other Federal organs, was adverse to war and urged a pacific settlement of difficulties with England. But when the war broke the Gazette supported the Federal Government with all its power. Its extra editions, containing the news brought in two days from Washington, were then looked upon as “prodigious feats of journalism.”

After full thirty years as the guiding spirit of the Gazette, August 1, 1816, John Scull transferred his interest in the paper to his son, John I. Scull. The editor, Morgan Neville, also became a partner.

Even with two other papers in Pittsburgh, the “Commonwealth” and the “Mercury,” the Gazette retained its leadership and now appeared semi-weekly.

In March, 1820, Eichbaum and Johnson purchased the Gazette and changed its name to “The Gazette and Manufacturer and Mercantile Advertiser.” Two years later David M. MacLean purchased the property and re-established the original title. In September, 1829, Neville B. Craig, became the owner and four years later the Gazette appeared as a daily. It strongly supported the Anti-Masonic party. In September, 1856, Russell Errett, and D. L. Eaton became joint 519owners of the Gazette and under their editorial management the paper made unusual progress.

Errett was one of the organizers of the Republican party and the Gazette became one of the first organs of that party in the country.

There were several other changes in ownership until June 1, 1900, when the late United States Senator George T. Oliver purchased the plant. May 1, 1906, the Pittsburgh Times was absorbed and the title changed to The Pittsburgh Gazette-Times.

On February 7, 1915, the Gazette-Times moved into the eight-story publication building on Gazette Square, where the paper is now published.

Since December 4, 1917, George S. Oliver has served as president and Charles W. Danziger, secretary and managing editor.

Even as Pittsburgh has grown from a village of log houses when the Gazette was established there, to one of the world’s most important cities, so the Gazette has evolved into one of the greatest newspapers published in America.