The history of newspapers in New York is long and dynamic. Modern newspapers carry on this historical legacy by delivering plenty of information about sports, events, politics and more. Find out more information about how the newspaper business started in Queens in the article at queens-future.
How did it all start?
In 1800, weekly and quarterly newspapers were published across several New York counties. They cost only a few cents. The highest price citizens had to pay for a newspaper was one dollar.
By the mid-1800s, the city had over fifty publications. Journalists who wrote for newspapers addressed topics such as politics, human interest and local sporting events. The Long Island Farmer was the most well-known weekly newspaper in Queens at the time. Its founder was Henry Sleight.
Who was Henry Sleight?
Henry was born and raised in New York City. The man spent several years working for the Suffolk County Gazette in Sag Harbor before launching his own newspaper.
When the war broke out in 1812, Sleight joined the army and fought on the Kentucky frontier. Following the war, he stayed in Kentucky and worked in trade. After suffering severe losses in a fire, the man returned to New York and settled in Queens, where he founded the Long Island Farmer newspaper.
The launch and development of the Long Island Farmer newspaper
The Long Island Farmer was a weekly newspaper the first issue of which was published on January 4, 1821. In 1822, Sleight sold the newspaper to farmer and journalist John Kennehan. By the time Kennehan acquired ownership of the newspaper, he was already in charge of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle’s Department.
The Long Island Farmer newspaper, led by Kennehan, produced 5,000 copies a week and had many readers. However, the situation got worse in 1898, when Queens County was partitioned and the western half of the former county, along with Jamaica, became part of New York City. The eastern part of Queens was incorporated as Nassau County. This necessitated an immediate modification in the newspaper’s format. Kennehan managed to complete this task successfully.
In 1900, John passed away. His nephew James Sullivan took over ownership of the publication. Sullivan’s leadership was ineffective, and the newspaper began to decline. The man decided to sell it to James O’Rourke, who ran the Long Island Democrat newspaper.
In 1920, Jamaican lawyer Benjamin Marvin purchased the newspaper from O’Rourke. In early 1921, the newspaper changed its name to the Long Island Daily Press and Farmer.
Already in the summer of 1926, the Ridder brothers, who owned a German-language newspaper, purchased the Long Island Press and Farmer. The Ridders decided to shorten the newspaper’s name to Long Island Press and appointed William F. Hoffman as editor-in-chief.
In 1930, the Ridders purchased land on 168th Street in Jamaica to build a printing house. The Long Island Press’ weekly edition was printed at the new facility.
In 1932, the Ridders sold their stake in the Press to Samuel Newhouse. Under Newhouse’s leadership, the newspaper was accessible to the citizens in Nassau. The newspaper began to grow rapidly, with a daily circulation of 20,000 copies. In 1952, this figure had risen to 157 thousand.
In 1969, the Long Island Press newspaper’s circulation peaked at 445 thousand copies per week. Unfortunately, in 1970, Queens and other parts of New York endured an economic downturn. Many local businesses that relied on newspaper sales were closed. The Long Island Press immediately began to lose circulation. The Press ceased publishing in the spring of 1977, citing rising costs, declining advertising revenue and falling circulation.
The old editorial office building sat unoccupied until 2005. Then it was demolished, and a store was built on the site.
