{{Short description|Weekly newspaper published in Winters, California}} {{Infobox newspaper | name = Winters Express | motto = "Gateway To The Monticello Dam" | type = Weekly newspaper | owners = McNaughton Newspapers<br/> Wallace family | founder = Edwin C. Rust | publisher = Taylor Buley | chief_editor = Crystal Apilado | founded = 1884 | language = English | headquarters = 13 Russell St, <br/>Winters, CA 95694 | website = {{URL|wintersexpress.com}} }}

The '''''Winters Express''''' is a weekly newspaper published in Winters, California.

== History == On February 1, 1884, Edwin C. Rust founded the ''Winters Express''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 8, 1884 |title=Winters Notes |work=The Napa Register |pages=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Winters Express |url=https://www.wintersmuseum.org/history/winters-express |access-date=2026-05-09 |website=Historical Society of Winters |language=en-US}}</ref> Edwin was son of Col. Richard Rust, who had founded the ''California Express'' in Marysville three decades earlier.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 23, 1884 |title=Notice |work=Merced Express |pages=2}}</ref> In July 1896, Frank H. Owen acquired the paper after Rust left to go publish the ''Amador Dispatch''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 30, 1896 |title=Notice |work=Redwood City Standard |pages=2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=August 14, 1896 |title=Notice |work=The Napa Register |pages=4}}</ref> In March 1908, Fred C. Hemenway bought the ''Express'' from Owen.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 13, 1908 |title=Notice |work=The St. Helena Star |pages=2}}</ref>

In August 1925, Hemenway leased for one year to Frank W. Tilney and C.F. Hager so he could devote his time to farming.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 28, 1925 |title=Winters Express Has Been Leased |work=Winters Express |pages=2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=September 4, 1925 |title=Winters Editor Drops Pen And Shears To Take Up The Pruning Knife |work=Winters Express |pages=5}}</ref> That December, Tilney exited the business.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hager |first=C.F. |last2=Tilney |first2=F.W. |date=December 11, 1925 |title=To Whom It May Concern |work=Winters Express |pages=1}}</ref> Hemenway resumed control after a year.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 3, 1926 |title=Owner Receives Paper As Yester-Year |work=The Davis Enterprise |pages=1}}</ref> In total, Hemenway owned the paper for nearly three decades. The paper was hen acquired by Walter W. Stark in December 1944,<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 14, 1944 |title=Winters Express Sold To Sacramento Man |work=The Sacramento Union |pages=3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=December 15, 1944 |title=The Winters Express Has A New Owner |work=Winters Express |pages=1}}</ref> Fred W. Smith, former publisher of the ''Woodland Record'', in November 1945,<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 2, 1945 |title=Walter Stark Sells Winters Newspaper |work=Vacaville Reporter |pages=1}}</ref> and Newton "Newt" Wallace, formerly of the ''Upland News'', in January 1947<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 17, 1947 |title=Winters Newspaper Chnages Hands |work=Davis Enterprise |pages=5}}</ref>

Wallace was considered by many to be the "Mark Twain of the California News Publishers Association" due to his "dry Midwest humor and savvy observations about his craft." He penned a column called "Here, There, and Everywhere."<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Rockwell |first=Susanne |date=June 7, 1984 |title=Winters paper celebrating 100 years |work=The Sacramento Union |pages=15}}</ref> He was also a lifelong volunteer weather recorder for the National Weather Service.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alcala |first=Carlos |date=April 25, 2000 |title=On Record {{!}} To volunteer weather watchers, temps can be permanent hobby |work=The Sacramento Bee |pages=16}}</ref> In 1962, he was part of a group of California publishers invited to have lunch at the White House with President John F. Kennedy.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 16, 1962 |title=Lunch With President Kennedy |work=Vacaville Reporter |pages=18}}</ref>

In 1964, Wallace was elected president of the CNPA.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 9, 1964 |title=Publishers Tap Wainters Man |work=Progress-Bulletin |location=Pomona, California |pages=3 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> In 1967, director Anthony Loeb with the United States Information Agency created a documentary film on Wallace and the ''Express''. The goal of the project was to show the life of a newspaperman in a typically small U.S. city. Copies of the film were placed in USIA libraries in over 100 countries.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 26, 1967 |title=Documentary film to be made here |work=Winters Express |pages=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wallace |first=Newton |date=September 12, 1968 |title=Here, There, and Everywhere |work=Winters Express |pages=1}}</ref>

By 1980, the ''Express'' has a circulation of 1,658.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wood |first=Jim |date=December 7, 1980 |title=Another way / California's thriving weeklies |work=San Francisco Chronicle |pages=1}}</ref> That number grew to over 2,000 a few years later.<ref name=":0" /> In 1983, Charles R. "Charley" Wallace succeeded his father as publisher.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=DeAngelo |first=Debra |date=January 16, 2018 |title=Buley is new publisher of the Winters Express |url=https://www.davisenterprise.com/news/buley-is-new-publisher-of-the-winters-express/article_e593581e-0ed0-5e02-bd5a-353513f687a6.html |access-date=2026-05-09 |website=The Davis Enterprise |language=en}}</ref> In 1994, McNaughton Newspapers, owners of the Daily Republic of Fairfield, ''Placerville Mountain Democrat'' and ''The Davis Enterprise,'' became co-owners of the ''Express'' with the Wallace family.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 4, 1994 |title=Here and There... {{!}} Notes from all over |work=Chino Champion |pages=5}}</ref>

In 2013, Newton Wallace claimed to have beaten the record for "the world’s oldest newspaper delivery person." The Guinness World Records had previously given the record to Ted Ingram of the ''Dorset Echo''. Wallace's record was never made official, but it was reported on in ''The New York Times''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Haughney |first=Christine |last2=Wollan |first2=Malia |date=2013-03-03 |title=Hardy Survivor of a Vanishing Print Era Is Still Delivering the Newspaper at 93 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/us/a-93-year-old-paperboy-still-making-the-rounds.html |access-date=2026-05-09 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 2015, Newton Wallace officially retired at age 96. At that time he called himself the “world’s oldest paper boy."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sangree |first=Hudson |date=November 17, 2015 |title=Winters publisher calls it quits at 96 |url=https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article44828745.html |url-status= |access-date=May 9, 2026 |work=The Sacramento Bee}}</ref> He still spent a few hours a day at the paper despite retiring.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Sangree |first=Hudson |date=April 8, 2018 |title='World's oldest paperboy' leaves a legacy in Winters |work=The Sacramento Bee |pages=B1}}</ref> In 2018, Charley Wallace retired as publisher and was succeeded by Taylor Buley.<ref name=":1" /> In 2018, Newton Wallace died.<ref name=":2" /> In 2023, Newton Wallace was inducted into the California Newspaper Hall of Fame.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=December 7, 2023 |title=Newt Wallace inducted to California Newspaper Hall of Fame |url=https://www.wintersexpress.com/news/newt-wallace-inducted-to-california-newspaper-hall-of-fame/article_d099ce64-9339-11ee-b98e-938e18da97f6.html |access-date=2026-05-09 |website=Winters Express |language=en}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}} Category:Winters, California Category:Newspapers published in California Category:Newspapers established in 1884 Category:1884 establishments in California

== External links ==

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbIhboLhxzM "The Winters Express" (1967) documentary film hosted on YouTube.] * [https://www.wintersmuseum.org/history/winters-express The Winters Express by the Historical Society of Winters]