Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
This architect's rendering shows the Daily Globe building to be built in 1936 on East McLeod Avenue in downtown Ironwood, replacing an older wooden building. The Daily Globe first published on Nov. 20, 1919, and celebrates its 99th birthday today and the beginning of its 100th year of publication with today's edition being Vol. 100, No. 1. See Page 6 for further details.
By LARRY HOLCOMBE
Today is the Daily Globe's 99th birthday, and therefore begins it's 100th year of publication. Readers will find the notation Vol. 100, No. 1 on the bottom of Page 1.
The Daily Globe is planning several events leading up to its 100th birthday on Nov. 20, 2019, according to publisher Sue Mizell.
"We're looking forward to a big year and some exciting things this year and beyond," Mizell said.
Co-owner Gary Stevenson, of Sheridan, Wyo., said he was excited, too.
"We're excited to see what the future will bring. The paper has certainly changed over the past 100 years - of which our ownership was just a blip - but it will certainly change faster over the next 10 years," he said.
"We're proud to be part of this newspaper with such a strong history and presence in the community, and blessed to have such a talented work force," Stevenson said. "How fortunate to be part of a business that has stood the test of time and one of the oldest businesses in the community."
Stevenson and his partners purchased the paper in 2009. They own 20 newspapers in seven states.
In the beginning
Vol. 1, No. 1 was published on Nov. 20, 1919. The armistice of World War I was a year old, but the Treaty of Versailles was still under negotiations by 30 countries and President Woodrow Wilson was trying to form a League of Nations as part of the deal. The U.S. Senate - charged with ratifying treaties - wasn't so sure it was a good idea. The headline across the Daily Globe's first edition and main bar story down the right column talks of unrest between the president and the senate.
There's a small story in the bottom of fifth column that says Wilson was seen at the White House in a wheelchair. Historians believe Wilson suffered a stroke in October 1919 while touring the country making his case for the League of Nations.
There's also a small story about prohibition and the U.S. Supreme Court dealing with the recent Volstead Act which enabled the federal government to enforce the 18th Amendment when it went into effect in January 1920.
There are also several local stories on the Daily Globe's first front page, including stories about:
- Ironwood city officials hearing engineering proposals for a new water source - either pumping from the Montreal River or Spring Creek four miles away.
-A man being shot in Mercer, Wis., while attacking a woman.
-Ironwood's need for a new post office because the one it has is too small for the amount business done there.
-A Wakefield man confessing to the theft of a pair overalls valued at $3.50.
-The founding of the Ironwood American Legion Auxiliary.
-A preview of an evening of boxing set for Thanksgiving at the Pierce theater and the money being wagered on those fights at the Mission pool room.
Birth of a newspaper
Frank E. Noyes, editor and publisher of the Marinette (Wis.) Eagle-Star, saw the need for a daily newspaper on the Gogebic Range that was then served by a half-dozen weekly newspapers, including the Ironwood Times and Ironwood News-Record.
He and a pair of business associates from Wisconsin founded the Globe Publishing Company in the fall of 1919.
They secured the current property at 118 E. McLeod Ave. that included a wooden structure on the street that had been the Merchants Saloon. A two-story brick building was built behind that building toward the alley. The press was on the first floor and the mechanical composing room was upstairs. The old wooden building on the street housed the editorial, advertising, circulation and business departments.
Noyes, then in his 60s, enlisted his youngest son, Linwood I. Noyes, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a World War I veteran, to join the business in 1920. The younger Noyes quickly rose to the top and oversaw the construction of a new building in 1936 to replace old wooden structure. It stands today.
After Linwood's death in 1964, his widow, Geraldine Noyes, became president of Globe Publishing.
More construction in 1965 made room for a newer press, with color printing capability from the Eagle-Star. The present Goss Community press was installed in 1977.
The Noyes family sold the newspaper to Bliss Communications of Janesville, Wis., in 1980. Bliss oversaw a remodel of the building in 1995 and many upgrades into the computer age.
Bliss sold the newspaper to Stevenson Newspapers of Sheridan, Wyo., on April 1, 2009.
Today, the Daily Globe has 36 full- and part-time employees. Mizell has been publisher since September 2012.
Birthday math
So why is the Daily Globe marking the beginning of its 100th year on its 99th birthday? It's a bit of birthday math.
A person doesn't turn one until after living a whole year. They celebrate their second birthday after living two years. A person who is 39, is living their 40th year. One who is 69 is living their 70th year.
The publishing industry marks issues by numbers and puts them in annual volumes. So again, today the Daily Globe marks the beginning of its 100th year. Vol. 100, No. 1.
