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Niles Newspapers

Ward — Thomas Museum
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503 Brown Street Niles, Ohio 44446

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Phone: 330.544.2143
Mail: PO Box 368 Niles, Ohio 44446

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Masthead of The Niles Daily News.

 

The Niles Daily News was published in the left-half of this building located on South Main Street.

The Niles Daily News was published in the left-half of this building located on South Main Street.

Newspapers Played an Important Part in Development of the Niles Community.

In the civic and educational life of the Niles community the press has long played an important part. The first paper, ‘The Niles Register,’ established in 1867 by E.E. Moore and Edward Butler, survived for only six months. The second venture, ‘The Niles Independent,’ of M.D. Sanderson became the ‘Niles Home Record’ in 1872 and was among the many Niles establishments forced to close by the Ward failure and the depression.

In 1875, Sanderson started ‘The Trumbull County Independent’ which continued until 1917. It was an eight page weekly paper, about two-thirds the size of a modern daily. With the exception of several columns of local news on page five, the entire paper, including the first page was devoted to advertisements with a few commercial columns of national news and curiosities on each page.

The first daily, ‘The Niles Daily News,’ appeared in 1890. It was an eight page paper, one 20 inches by 12 inches in dimensions. The Niles Daily News was published in the left-half of the building located on South Main Street heading down towards the Mahoning River and the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks. The East Ohio Gas Company occupied the right-half of the first floor while upstairs the Order of the Red Man Club held its meetings.

‘The Niles Register’ was established in 1921 and continued a short time.

In 1924, ‘The Niles Daily Times’ was established. The present proprietors, Milton and James Wick took over the paper in 1926.


Built in 1922 to house the Knights of Pythias, this building was known to most of us as The Daily Times Building.

Built in 1922 to house the Knights of Pythias, this building was known to most of us as The Daily Times Building.

The Knights of Pythias was founded in Washington D.C. in 1864.The cardinal principles of the organization are friendship, charity, and benevolence. It strives to gather into one fraternity men who appreciate the true meaning of friendship as Damon showed Pythias in Greek literature.

The Niles lodge was instituted in 1882 and first met in the old Odd Fellows Hall then located on South Main Street. The lodge then moved to this building on West State Street.

The sandstone blocks near the top of the building have the markings: K of P 1922 engraved into the stones. The markings identify the building as being erected by The Knights of Pythias and dedicated in 1922.

Demolition of the blighted and vacant Niles Times Building began August 2, 2021. The building would have become 100 years old in January 2022.


In 2018 the building was deemed unsafe and the water department moved out. Since then the building has been vacant. The new space will be used to provide new parking for the future revitalization of the downtown businesses.

From 1922 to 1993, The Niles Daily Times (later Niles Times) was a newspaper in the city. In 1993, the building closed, and the city purchased it three years later. For several years, the water department called the building home, and some of the building was used for storage of various documents ranging from court dockets to tax records.

In 2018 the building was deemed unsafe and the water department moved out. Since then the building has been vacant. The new space will be used to provide new parking for the future revitalization of the downtown businesses. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Tribune staff writer

Corner stone of the Knights of Pythias Building built in 1922.


 

The Niles Daily Times building.

The Niles Daily Times building.

The building with the Niles Water Department storage area added to the west side.

A sampling of three editions of the Niles Daily Times, 1934, 1959, and 1990, reveal why the daily newspaper was so essential. The community newspaper provided information about National, State and most especially local news– who was getting married, who died, local sports, advice, and local business ads, and all featured information about the families that lived in Niles.

A list of topics from the October 22, 1934 edition: Town Talk with James Wick, 5–10–15 Years Ago, a full page of Society & Club news featuring dances, birthdays, church notes, sick list, births, deaths, wedding showers, engagements, a page of world news in photos, a full page of local and national sports, a full page with the school newspaper The HiCrier, radio station program lists, cross–word puzzle, and a comics section with a Magazine Column showing fashions for women.

The October 27, 1959 Niles Daily Times edition cost 5 cents compared to the 1934 paper which cost 2 cents. Added to the list are Temperatures, Dear Abby, a larger editorial page and national editorials, Town Talk is now by Agnes Lopatta, sports now appears on two pages, TV listings and show reviews, and a page of classified ads.

The newspaper edition for November 15, 1990 is now published by Phoenix Publications. New features are: Sound Off, Letters to the Editor, a Dining and Entertainment page, and Health and Fitness topics.

The demise of the local newspaper written by people who lived in the Niles community is sad, especially when you consider today’s social media as its replacement.


 

 

 


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