History of The Boston Globe

Eben Jordan, founder of the retail store Jordan Marsh (now part of Macy’s) was one of six Boston businessmen who started The Boston Globe in 1872.

(Source: “One Hundred Years of The Boston Globe,’’ by Louis M. Lyons)

The first issue of The Boston Globe was published on March 4, 1872, and cost 4 cents.

Charles H. Taylor, a Civil War veteran, was hired as a temporary business manager at the Globe in August 1873. He had worked for the Boston Traveler, as a Boston correspondent for the New York Tribune, and had started a monthly magazine. He was elected to a clerkship in the House and served there for one year before he signed on at the Globe. In December he signed a contract to serve as general manager of the paper for two years.

Taylor is credited with pioneering a breakthrough in newspaper methods, making the Globe an all-day paper and expanding its audience, and under his leadership circulation rose from 8,000 to 30,000.

This photo shows the Globe’s first location on Washington Street, which was affectionately dubbed “Newspaper Row’’ for all the publications it housed. The Globe initially occupied three floors of a five-floor building but expanded in years following and remained at that location for 86 years.

This rendering shows the Globe press room from November 1903. The big presses printed 12-page papers at the rate of 800 a minute or 48,000 an hour.

One of the Globe’s presses was installed in the winter of 1886-1887, and the second was installed in 1888.

People crowded in Newspaper Row on May 21, 1927, to await the Globe’s announcement of the completion of Charles Lindbergh’s trans-Atlantic flight and his arrival in Paris.

The Boston Evening Globe, which began in 1878 but first appeared under the “evening’’ name on Feb. 1, 1914, ran for 100 years and ceased publication in 1979.

Pictured: Boston citizens celebrated the end of World War II and held up copies of The Boston Evening Globe.

People viewed the Associated Press wire machine in the Globe’s Washington Street office. The paper gained access to the wire services in 1887 after the AP absorbed the United Press.

In 1958, the paper relocated to the new Boston Globe building at 135 Morrissey Blvd. in Dorchester, making it the last paper to leave Newspaper Row. The new plant opened on May 11.

Anne Cabot Wyman joined the Globe staff in 1960 as a travel writer. She became the first female editorial page editor, and under her leadership, the paper won a Pulitzer Prize in 1975. Wyman worked for the Globe for 30 years.

Demolition of the old Globe building on Washington Street began in February 1967.

William Davis Taylor (center) was publisher of the Globe from 1955-1977. He sat between his son and successor WIlliam O. Taylor (left) and his cousin, Globe President John I. Taylor. In the photo behind them is the newpaper’s first publisher, Charles Taylor, who was William Davis Taylor’s grandfather.

Tom Winship became editor of the Globe in 1965 when his father, Laurence, retired. Winship was a combat correspondent with a Coast Guard unit during World War II and went to work for the Washington Post when he returned to the United States. He later served as the Washington correspondent for the Globe.

Winship was editor from 1965 until 1984 and headed the 10-man Globe team that won the paper’s first Pulitzer Prize in 1966.

(Source: Thomas Winship obituary, “One Hundred Years of The Boston Globe’’)

The Boston Globe celebrated its first Pulitzer Prize in 1966 for its investigation into the potential appointment of Judge Francis X. Morrissey to the federal bench. Seated, Bob Healy (left), political editor, and Tom Winship, editor. From left, standing behind them were reporters Joseph M. Harvey, Martin Nolan, Anson ‘Bud’ Smith, Richard Connolly, and Charles Whipple, the editorial page editor.

Publisher William “Bill’’ O. Taylor II stood in front of the Globe building on Morrissey Boulevard on Dec. 4, 1975. Taylor served as publisher from 1978-1997.

Ellen Goodman began working for the Globe in 1965 and began writing her column for the paper in 1974, becoming one of the first people to open oped pages to women’s voices. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 1980 for Distinguished Commentary.

In 1973, the Globe became a subsidiary of Affiliated Publications, forming a partnership that lasted throuh the parent company’s expansions until The New York Times Company purchased both entities on Oct. 1, 1993.

Pictured: New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger (left) with Bill Taylor (right) looked over their speeches before a press conference to announce the purchase deal on June 11, 1993.

(Source: Boston Globe Services)

The Globe launched Boston.com on Oct. 30, 1995. The site was designed to deliver an electronic version of the paper along with entertainment, resources, and information for people in New England, and it became a major source of advertising revenue.

Pictured: David Margulius, director of Boston.com, demonstrated the site for Massachusetts Governor William Weld at the Internet World Exhibit on Oct. 31, 1995.

(Source: Boston Globe archives)

Loretta McLaughlin, a medical writer for The Boston Globe, led the charge of writers in the country calling attention to AIDS and HIV and provided extensive coverage of the disease. She served as editorial page editor from 1992-1994.

Benjamin B. Taylor became the fifth and final Taylor family member to serve as publisher of the Globe. He held that position from 1997-1999.

Richard H. Gilman took over as publisher of the Globe in 1999.

Martin Baron served as editor of the Globe from 2001-2012. He previously worked in editing positions at The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Miami Herald. During his 11 years at the Globe, Baron oversaw six Pulitzer Prize wins and the launch of BostonGlobe.com, the paper’s subscription-only site.

Baron left the Globe to become executive editor of The Washington Post.

Steven Ainsley was publisher of the Globe from 2006-2009.

In 2009, the Globe faced declining advertising revenues and a floundering economy, and The New York Times Company threatened to shut down the paper unless the unions could agree to $20 million in concessions. On May 6, 2009, the Globe and its largest employees union reached a tentative agreement to keep publishing.

Pictured: New York Times Chief Executive Officer Janet Robinson (left) informed Globe employees of the Times’s decision not to sell The Boston Globe. Publisher Steven Ainsley stood behind her.

In 2010, the Globe announced a split of its digital news brands into two sites, keeping Boston.com free and establishing BostonGlobe.com as a subscription-only pay site. BostonGlobe.com launched in 2011.

Pictured: A screenshot of the BostonGlobe.com homepage from shortly after the launch.

On Dec. 20, 2012, Brian McGrory took over as editor of the Globe.

McGrory started working as a reporter for the paper in 1989 and over 23 years worked as a general assignment reporter, White House correspondent, roving national reporter, metro columnist, and associate editor.

Pictured: McGrory stood with Christopher M. Mayer, who became publisher of the Globe in 2009. In February 2013, The New York Times Company announced its plan to sell the Globe and its websites.