The ''Daily Republic'' is a daily newspaper in the town of

Fairfield, California Fairfield is a city in and the county seat of Solano County, California, United States, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The city has a diversified economy, with government, manufac ...

. It is owned by McNaughton Newspapers.

History

The ''Daily Republic'' started out as two newspapers – the ''Solano County Herald'' and the ''Solano Press''. The ''County Herald'' was first created in Benicia in November 1855. It moved to Suisun City with its first publication there on October 2, 1858, with offices in a building on the south side of the city plaza. The ''Daily Republic'' was the first newspaper in the nation to editorially support

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

for president. The ''Solano Press'' was created in 1862. Seven years later, the Herald and the Press were consolidated and renamed the ''Solano Republican''. "The Republican is a fearless defender of the rights of the people, and is a welcome weekly visitor to nearly every house in the upper portion of Solano County," the 1879 History of Solano County stated. During the 1940s, the ''Solano Republican'' was housed at 607 Main St., Suisun City. The present home of the Daily Republic at 1250 Texas St. was built in 1940. Within the first year he owned the newspaper, Dean McNaughton increased the publication to five days a week, Monday through Friday, and renamed it the ''Daily Republic''. Today, the newspaper publishes seven days a week. In September 2020, the newspaper suspended its Thursday and Saturday print editions.

Ownership

The ''Daily Republic'' had many owners through the beginning of the 20th century until 1919, when David A. Weir bought the newspaper. He owned the ''Solano Republican'' for the next 31 years. Weir was born in Sterling, Colorado in 1889. After working at ''

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in the Denver metropolitan area. it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 mil ...

'' and the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', he published papers in

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and Porterville before buying the ''Solano Republican''. Weir was also instrumental in establishing the local

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post 208 and the county's mosquito abatement district. Weir retired from publishing November 1, 1949, and sold the ''Republican'' to J. Clifton Toney. Toney operated the newspaper until 1960, when it was sold to the McNaughton family. Since the early 1960s, the newspaper has been owned by the McNaughtons, a family with roots in journalism that date back to the 1920s. F.F. McNaughton, grandfather of present-day CEO Foy McNaughton, graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

's first master's degree program in journalism. He went on to work for a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

newspaper. A few years later, he returned to his home state of

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to purchase a small paper in Bicknel. After making it a success, he purchased the '' Pekin Daily Times'' in

Pekin, Illinois Pekin ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tazewell County in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located on the Illinois River, Pekin is the largest city of Tazewell County and the second most populous municipality of the Peoria metropolitan area ...

. This became the flagship paper. His son, Dean McNaughton, joined the family business during the late 1940s. Dean McNaughton journeyed to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 1960 and purchased the ''Solano Republican''. In 1965, the McNaughtons purchased the '' Mountain Democrat'' in Placerville. In 1967, they bought ''The Davis Enterprise''. Foy McNaughton joined the family business in 1973. His first job was in the composing room at the ''Mountain Democrat''. Later that year, he moved to ''The Davis Enterprise'' pressroom. For the next six years, he worked in all areas of the publishing business until 1979 when he was named publisher of ''The Davis Enterprise''. He assumed his present title of president and CEO of the McNaughton newspapers in 1986. He became publisher of the ''Daily Republic'' in 1995, a role in which he serves in as of November, 2017. Foy McNaughton's son, T. Burt McNaughton, was named co-publisher in early 2013. In addition to the ''Daily Republic'', the family publishes ''The Davis Enterprise'', the ''Mountain Democrat'', the ''Winters Express'' in El Dorado Hills, ''Village Life'' in Cameron Park &

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, and the ''Georgetown Gazette'' in

Georgetown, California Georgetown (formerly Growlersburg) is a census-designated place (CDP) in El Dorado County, California, United States. It is the northeasternmost town in the California Mother Lode. The population was 2,546 in the 2020 census, up from 2,367 in 20 ...

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.dailyrepublic.com Daily newspapers published in California Fairfield, California Mass media in Solano County, California Newspapers established in 1855 1855 establishments in California