Serving North Central Indiana since 1850

June 14, 2006 09:47 am

— Covering central Indiana since 1850, The Kokomo Tribune also publishes the Howard County Weekly, a free distribution weekly circulated to households that are not subscribers to the daily newspaper. The Tribune has a long history with the Kokomo community. It made its first appearance on Oct. 30, 1850, when the Howard Tribune, a weekly newspaper, was published for a handful of readers. With only two brief gaps, a newspaper bearing the name Tribune has been published since in the community. Some highlights during that time: From 1856 until his death in 1878, T.C. Philips was the Tribune. He brought the paper up from an obscure and inconsequential beginning to one of the best county seat newspapers in the state. During a tornado in 1862, the Tribune building was demolished. Asking 1,000 subscribers to advance a year’s subscription, Philips quickly obtained enough money to purchase new equipment and set up shop in a new location. From 1897 to 1981 the newspaper was owned and operated by John Arthur Kautz and his descendents, his daughters and their families but primarily by the Blacklidge family (Bernice Kautz, one daughter, was married to Kent H. Blacklidge). John Arthur Kautz was owner and publisher until his death at which time Richard H. Blacklidge became CEO. Richard Blacklidge, Arthur Kautz's grandson, was publisher until 1978. Kent Blacklidge was publisher from 1978 until the newspaper was sold in 1981. The Kokomo Tribune was one of the most recognized small daily, family-owned newspapers in the nation in its day. This included receiving an award from the Audit Bureau of Circulations for 8 out of 10 years in the 1970's for having the highest penetration of its market in the nation. In 1981, Thomson Newspapers Inc. purchased the Tribune and in 1994, the State of Indiana honored the Tribune for doing business for more than 100 years. The Tribune received the state’s Century Business Award for “Outstanding Contributions to the Economic Growth and Prosperity in Indiana. Then, in 2000 Thomson sold Tribune to the present owners, Community Newspapers Holding Inc., the parent company of many other Indiana newspapers, weeklies, commercial printing and direct marketing businesses.Our main offices are: 300 N. Union St., Kokomo IN 46901. Map to Tribune