{{Short description|Daily newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida}} {{Use American English|date=September 2019}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Infobox newspaper | name = The Florida Times-Union | logo = frameless|class=skin-invert | image = The Florida Times-Union front page.jpg | caption = The 5 March 2007 front page of<br />''The Florida Times-Union'' | type = Daily newspaper | format = Broadsheet | founded = {{start date and age|1864}} (as the ''Florida Union'') | owners = USA Today Co. | founders = {{ubl|J. K. Stickney|W. C. Morrill|Charles H. Jones}} | circulation = 27,818 | circulation_ref = <ref>{{Cite web |title=Member Directory |url=https://flpress.com/members/member-directory/ |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=Florida Press Association |language=en-US}}</ref> | headquarters = 1 Independent Drive, Suite 200<br>Jacksonville, Florida 32202<br>US | editor = Paul Runnestrand | oclc = 49633482 | website = {{URL|jacksonville.com}} | ISSN = 0740-2325 }}
'''''The Florida Times-Union''''' is a daily newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Widely known as the oldest newspaper in the state, it began publication as the '''''Florida Union''''' in 1864. Its current incarnation started in 1883, when the ''Florida Union'' merged with another Jacksonville paper, the ''Florida Daily Times''.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Florida Times-Union |publisher=Morris Communications Company, LLC |url=http://www.morris.com/divisions/morris_publishing_group/daily_newspapers/florida_times.shtml |access-date=2007-03-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503030053/http://morris.com/divisions/morris_publishing_group/daily_newspapers/florida_times.shtml |archive-date=2007-05-03 }}</ref>
In 1983, Morris Communications of Augusta, Georgia, purchased Florida Publishing Company. ''The Times-Union'' became the largest newspaper of this chain, which owns a number of newspapers around the country. The paper is now owned by Gannett. Its editor is Paul Runnestrand.
==History== In 1864, during the American Civil War, J. K. Stickney and W. C. Morrill published the first edition of the ''Florida Union''. It was a Northern and Republican paper, at the time when Jacksonville was occupied by the Union Army. By 1867, Stickney sold the ''Florida Union'' to Edward M. Cheney, of Boston. Cheney tried to make the paper into a daily publication but lacked the needed money. The ''Union'' was sold to Walton, Fowle & Co. in 1873. Stockholder C. F. Mawbey assumed control and turned the ''Union'' into a daily publication. Cheney returned to the ''Union'' as an editor.
In 1876, the ''Union'' was in decline and abandoned daily publication. Financially doomed, it was sold to H. B. McCallum, who then returned it to daily publication and converted it from an afternoon to a morning paper. Charles H. Jones wanted to buy the ''Union'' but was refused by McCallum. Annoyed, Jones started a rival paper, the ''Florida Daily Times'', in November 1881. By 1883, the ''Daily Times'' was dominating the ''Union''. McCallum became ill and finally decided to sell the paper to the ''Daily Times''. The ''Union'' then combined with the ''Daily Times'' to form ''The Florida Times-Union'', whose first edition was published on February 4, 1883.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Foley|first1=Bill|title=History of the Florida Times-Union|url=http://jacksonville.com/content/history-florida-times-union|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225062335/http://jacksonville.com/content/history-florida-times-union|archive-date=February 25, 2011|access-date=April 11, 2015|website=Jacksonville.com}}</ref>
The paper was partisan and worked to promote railroad interests.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83045831/|title=The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1903-Current|website=Library of Congress}}</ref> The ''Daily Times'' was reporting on election related violence in 1882.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GAJSAQAAMAAJ&q=independent+party+florida+frank+pope&pg=PA701|title = Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress|last1 = Congress|first1 = United States|year = 1889}}</ref>
On February 11, 2018, ''The Florida Times-Union'' printed its last papers in Jacksonville after 154 years. ''The Florida Times-Union'' newspapers are now printed at ''The Gainesville Sun'' and ''The Daytona Beach News-Journal'', which are both owned by Gatehouse Media.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Benfield|first1=David|title=End of an era: Florida Times-Union prints its last paper in Jacksonville|url=https://www.news4jax.com/news/end-of-an-era-florida-times-union-prints-its-last-paper-in-jax|access-date=12 February 2018|publisher=WJXT|date=February 11, 2018}}</ref> On April 1, 2019, ''The Florida Times-Union'' moved to the Wells Fargo building at 1 Independent Drive, Suite 200 in downtown Jacksonville.<ref>{{cite web|title=Florida Times-Union moves to Wells Fargo building downtown|url=https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190401/florida-times-union-moves-to-wells-fargo-building-downtown|website=Jacksonville.com|access-date=August 2, 2019}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="158px"> File:FloridaTimesUnion1880s.jpg|''The Florida Times-Union'' (far right) in the 1880s File:FTUPressroom1911.jpg|The pressroom in 1911 File:FTU1972.jpg|The Florida Times Union employees using linotype machines in 1972 File:Ftuhq.jpeg|The offices of ''The Florida Times-Union'' from 1967 to 2019 </gallery>
==Ownership== For most of the 20th century, ''The Florida Times-Union'' was owned by the Florida Publishing Company, which was in turn jointly owned by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, the Florida East Coast Railway, and the Seaboard Air Line Railway, the three main railroads serving Jacksonville, having been acquired in equal shares by them or their corporate predecessors about 1896.<ref>{{cite book |last1=United States Senate, Committee on Interstate Commerce |title=Investigations of Railroads, Holding Companies, and Affiliated Companies, and Related Matters, Volume 16, Part 26: Seaboard Air Line Railway |date=1942 |publisher=U. S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D. C. |pages=11785–11812 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vKFIAQAAIAAJ |access-date=17 March 2020}}</ref> The Coast Line and the Seaboard merged in 1967 as the Seaboard Coast Line, which evolved into CSX Transportation; the Florida East Coast has maintained its corporate identity into the 21st century. Both railroads have their headquarters in Jacksonville, the railroad hub of the state.
In 1983 Morris Communications of Augusta, Georgia, acquired the Florida Publishing Company for $200 million.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fact Sheet|url=http://www.morris.com/content/fact-sheet|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512005253/http://www.morris.com/content/fact-sheet|archive-date=May 12, 2012|access-date=April 11, 2015|website=morris.com}}</ref> In October 2017 Gatehouse Media acquired the ''Times-Union'' from Morris Communications, in conjunction with numerous other papers across the country, for $120 million.<ref>{{cite news|title=Times-Union gets new ownership with closing of purchase by GateHouse Media|url=http://jacksonville.com/business/2017-10-02/times-union-gets-new-ownership-closing-purchase-gatehouse-media|access-date=1 January 2018|work=The Florida Times-Union}}</ref> GateHouse merged with Gannett in 2019; while GateHouse was the nominal survivor, the merged company took the better-known Gannett name.
==See also== {{Portal|Florida|Journalism}} * ''Jacksonville Journal'' * Media in Jacksonville, Florida * List of newspapers in Florida
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official website|1=http://jacksonville.com/}}
{{Gannett}} {{Jacksonville Corporations}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Florida Times-Union, The}} Category:1864 establishments in Florida Category:Brooklyn, Jacksonville Category:Companies based in Jacksonville, Florida Category:Modernist architecture in Jacksonville, Florida Category:Mass media in Jacksonville, Florida Category:USA Today Co. publications Category:Newspapers published in Florida Category:Newspapers established in 1864