The Old Colony Memorial (est. 1822) is a semiweekly newspaper published in Plymouth, Massachusetts. USA Today Co. owns the paper;Rowland, Christopher. Can suburban newspapers deliver? Boston Globe, May 16, 2006 previous owners include the George W. Prescott Publishing Co.Boston Globe, May 24, 1997 and the Memorial Press Group.
History
19th century The Old Colony Memorial began in 1822.Old Colony Memorial, and Plymouth County Advertiser, Vol. 1, no. 1 (May 4, 1822). Publishers have included George F. Andrews, Winslow W. Avery, Allen Danforth, James A. Danforth, Charles Carroll Doten, William T. Hollis, John Morisey, Thomas Prince, James Thurber. Among the editors: Joseph Francis Bittinger.Ayer newspaper directory, 1921
In the 1830s, "connected with the printing office [was] a newspaper reading room where intelligence from various quarters [were] daily received, and [was] a pleasant resort for the reading gentlemen at their leisure hours. Under the same roof [was] a book-store and bindery, and a circulating library." In the 19th century its main competitor was the Plymouth Rock newspaper. In the 1880s the O.C. Memorial office stood on Court Street near Shirley Square,Old Plymouth: a guide to its localities and objects of interest. Plymouth: Old colony memorial press, 1886 and by the 1900s on Middle Street.
20th–21st century K. Prescott Low, whose family had published The Patriot Ledger for a century, purchased Memorial Press Group (MPG) in 1979 and incorporated it into the privately owned George W. Prescott Publishing Company. Thirty years later, however, in 1997, Low found that "mega-players competing with us" made family ownership of the Ledger and MPG uneconomic, and sought to sell them.Stewart, Colin. "Ledger Owner Explains Decision". The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, Mass.), page 21, May 24, 1997.
A buyer quickly emerged: James F. Plugh, owner of The Enterprise, the Brockton daily newspaper that competed with the Ledger and several MPG papers. Plugh's Newspaper Media LLC, later renamed Enterprise NewsMedia, bought the Prescott Publishing for an estimated US$60 to US$70 million.Blanton, Kimberly. "Low Family Will Sell Patriot Ledger to the Owners of Brockton Enterprise". The Boston Globe, October 4, 1997.
Liberty Publishing purchased Enterprise NewsMedia in 2006 as part of a mammoth deal that also included Community Newspaper Company (CNC) – then owned by the Boston Herald – and a new name for the parent company, GateHouse Media.Gatlin, Greg. "Herald to Sell Suburban Papers". Boston Herald, May 6, 2006.
See also Memorial Press Group List of Community Newspaper Company weeklies
References
Further reading Langner, Paul. Plymouth Paper Absolved over Alteration in Police Ad. Boston Globe, 30 July 1991: 59.
External links
Wicked Local Plymouth with News from the Old Colony Memorial (published by GateHouse Media of Perinton, New York) Massachusetts State Library. Photos of Old Colony Memorial (May 4, 1822), v.1, no.1: page 1 and page 3.