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Chronicling America
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Newspaper Oakes Republican (Oakes, N.D.) 1898-1906

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About Oakes Republican (Oakes, N.D.) 1898-1906

Oakes is a Northern Pacific Railroad (NPRR) townsite that was founded in 1886 and named for Thomas Fletcher Oakes, then General Manager of the NPRR, and its President from 1888-1893.

The first newspaper in the area began in 1883 as the Port Emma Times. The Jim River Journal sold its list to the Port Emma Times in 1885, and the Times moved to Ludden during its boom in 1886 and took on the name the Ludden Times. In 1890, the owners of the Times, C.S. Brown and W.H. Ellis, moved to Oakes, where the Oakes Weekly Republican was born. Ellis and Brown sold their interest in the Republican in 1898 to Ed A. Smith. Smith dropped “weekly” from the title at this time.

Around 1900, Republican editor Ed Smith declared, “The citizens of Oakes are noted for their liberality. They have always spent their money freely whether it was to get a railroad, promote a county fair, coursing meet, horse races or a sugar beet factory. And, as a result Oakes is the best advertised city of its size in the state. The balance of the state may poke a little fun at Oakes for spending a little money on a sugar beet deal, but it would be better grace to give us credit for trying to develop the state at our own expense.”

In 1901, the Oakes Republican purchased the Oakes Independent, and in 1902 the paper was sold to F.S. Goddard and Alex R. Wright, then owners of the Ellendale Leader. In 1903, that partnership dissolved, Goddard taking the Leader and Wright the Oakes Republican. Mr. Wright ran the paper from 1903 to 1919, changing the name to the Oakes Times in 1906. Wright explains the name change on page four of the January 25, 1906, edition. He writes, “The name we like better, as it balances better with the name of our city. The word ‘Republican’ always looked to us a little top-heavy.” The subscription price at the time of the name change was $1.50 per year.

In 1919, Wright sold the paper to Roy A. Bast and Edward F. Bassingwaite. Bast passed away in 1924, leaving Bassingwaite in complete control until Harry C. Edblom became co-publisher and half owner in 1928. This partnership flourished until the death of Edblom in the spring of 1961. Bassingwaite again purchased full interest in the Times but passed away the next winter in February 1962.

Provided By: State Historical Society of North Dakota

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Oakes Republican (Oakes, N.D.) 1898-1906

Dates of Publication

  • 1898-1906

Created / Published

  • Oakes, N.D. : Ed. A. Smith

Headings

  • -  Oakes (N.D.)--Newspapers
  • -  North Dakota--Oakes
  • -  United States--North Dakota--Dickey--Oakes

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in 1898.
  • -  -v. 22, no. 52 (Jan. 18, 1906).
  • -  "Official paper City of Oakes, County of Dickey."
  • -  Available on microfilm from the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 15, no. 32 (Aug. 12, 1898).
  • -  Oakes times (DLC)sn 87096017

Medium

  • v. : ill. ; 52-52 cm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn88076145

OCLC Number

  • 18065383

ISSN Number

  • 2475-9880

Preceding Titles

Succeeding Titles

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Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Oakes Republican Oakes, N.D. -1906. (Oakes, ND), Jan. 1 1898. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn88076145/.

APA citation style:

(1898, January 1) Oakes Republican Oakes, N.D. -1906. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn88076145/.

MLA citation style:

Oakes Republican Oakes, N.D. -1906. (Oakes, ND) 1 Jan. 1898. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn88076145/.