The Times Leader’s former offices on North Main Street are seen in this vintage drawing. The paper marks its 116th anniversary this weekend, having put out its first edition on Dec. 2, 1907.
Times Leader file photo
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WILKES-BARRE — Happy birthday, Times Leader!
The first edition of the paper under this name was first published 116 years ago this weekend, Dec. 2, 1907.
As history columnist Tom Mooney described the birth in a column marking the paper’s centennial, new owners and publishers Ernest Gray Smith and Fred C. Kirkendall Sr., both in their 30s, merged their Leader newspaper with a competitor, the Times, giving them a lock on publication of an evening paper in Wilkes-Barre.
As Mooney described it:
“Wilkes-Barre was a growing, bustling city in 1907, just the place for careers to be made. Anthracite mining provided the economic underpinnings and a host of associated industries, such as railroading and manufacturing, were on the upswing.
“Despite new competition when the News Dealer switched to afternoon publication and changed its name to the Evening News, the Times Leader thrived and became a worthy rival to the long-established (since 1879) morning Record. A weekly paper, the Sunday Independent, soon arose, but was not a direct competitor. Early issues of the Times Leader show more pages, more news and more advertisements than the two predecessor papers.
“Kirkendall eventually left the paper, but Smith became a major public figure in the area. He again served in the U.S. Army, going overseas during World War I, rising to the rank of colonel and becoming popularly known thereafter in the community as ‘Col. Smith.’
“He also tirelessly used his Times Leader to promote civic causes, such as construction of an airport and development of a playground system for Wilkes-Barre.”
1939 saw the combining of all three papers — Times Leader, Evening News and Record into a joint venture to be called the Wilkes-Barre Publishing Co., Mooney wrote.
“Under the new arrangement, the Evening News ceased to exist as a separate entity, and the Times Leader began to carry ‘The Evening News’ in smaller type under its own name on the masthead.”
Times Leader Media Group carries on that tradition today, with its offices and printing facility on East Market Street in the City of Wilkes-Barre.
As Smith tirelessly used his paper to promote civic causes a century ago, the Times Leader continues to support groups and activities that make the Wyoming Valley a special place to live, work, and play. We remain family owned and locally operated.
