Twentieth century Press-Register

logo of mobile register, in 1997-2006 incarnation

in 1905, company president john l. rapier dies, allowing son paul take position @ rapier , company, leading next name change daily register mobile register. 5 years later, frederick i. thompson became new owner of register. mobile item next newspaper operate under mississippi native, owned chain of newspapers in alabama, remain afternoon paper under name mobile news-item starting in 1916. publisher ralph b. chandler s afternoon newspaper mobile press began publication on april 15, 1929 inside former church on jackson , st. michael street in downtown mobile. thompson suffered financially during great depression, allowing competitor buy out mobile register in 1932. mobile daily newspapers incorporated established publish register morning paper, press afternoon paper, , both papers combined weekend paper mobile press register. press continue, mobile news-item had end publication. year 1944 had moments , bad press register, starting fire stopping presses brief period of time, army air corps , new orleans printing facility, newspaper continued publishing. on october 1, 1944, mobile press register began publication @ new facility on 304 government street in downtown mobile after years on st. louis , hamilton. no effort has been spared make 100% efficient , front page article stated day. george m. cox first press register editor work in building.

from 1948 end of 1950s, press register owned radio station wabb. during 1950s, press register started own photograph department under chief photographer billy lavender, used large speed graphic press camera. honolulu advertiser received press register s old press machines in 1955, goss headliner press machine began operation within press register building next 47 years. @ time of arrival, goss headliner commonly referred as, modern [press machine] found anywhere in world . longtime tv partner wkrg-tv went on air in 1955. s.i. newhouse s newspaper group bought out mobile press register in 1966. mobile press founder , press register publisher ralph chandler die in 1970, giving william j. hearin positions of president , publisher. in december 1978, video display terminals became fixture in press register s newsroom. on september 12, 1979, hurricane frederic made arrival on alabama gulf coast, stopping press register publication 2 days. baldwin county s own paper baldwin press register began publication in 1988.

in 1992, howard bronson, formerly of shreveport times, became publisher of mobile press register mission paper reinvent 1 of well-written, high profile news sources in south . same year, stanley r. tiner, former editor of defunct shreveport journal, became editor , vice president of news. held position 7 years until managing editor michael marshall succeeded him in 1999. 1 year after bronson s arrival, sports editor ben nolan retired after more forty-five years in sports department. nolan died in 2001, did former publisher william hearin. 3 members of press register staff named finalists pulitzer prize in 1995 after series of editorials on reforming alabama constitution. on january 31, 1997, afternoon mobile press ended publication, name lived on in corporate title mobile press register inc. name continued appear in weekly suburban , points south , , points north sections of register available areas of mobile county.