Though it represents just a small portion of this newspaper's past and this community's story, the Ballard News-Tribune would like to pay homage to the newspapers that reported to the community both up to and after Ballard annexed to Seattle in 1907.

In reality, this week's historic banner on Page 1 and above - or this special issue can't accurately capture all that that means.

But it can be said that despite the challenges presented through new media, television and radio, Ballard has maintained even to this day the tradition of a neighborhood newspaper - one that actually covers its community.

To many, it's a testament to the strong community identity that Ballard is known for.

Whether it's delivered to your doorstep or piled at the entrance to your apartment building, whether you read it on your lunch break at your favorite restaurant on Ballard Avenue or online from home, the people of Ballard have chosen to their get news from this and other local papers since the 1880s. That's something Ballardites can be proud of.

From generation to generation, we thank you for your loyalty.

Ballard Newspapers

For more than half a century Ballard's newspapers were owned, edited and managed by families who lived in the communities they served.

There is little left of Ballard's 19th century papers, but records since the 1900s of the Ballard News and the Ballard Tribune are for the most part complete, providing a great amount of information on community issues.

Washington Territory was one of the last American frontiers and territorial newspapers helped "blaze the trail" leading to the settlement of Puget Sound and the Salmon Bay community. Fees from publication of land claims helped sustain local papers and economic development of the area meant an increase in newspaper advertising and circulation.

In the 40 years before Ballard's incorporation, the primary newspapers in the Puget Sound region were the Columbian, the Puget Sound Gazette and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Prior to the 1907 annexation, Ballard had experienced no less than 10 different newspapers. Competition among the newspapers brought frequent ownership changes and spelled a quick end for several of them.

Ballard's first official newspaper, the Ballard Express, began in 1890. The Weekly Millman and the Searchlight also began that year. The News Echo started the following year.

The roots of today's Ballard paper, the Ballard News-Tribune, go back to the 1891 publication of the News Echo. Editor and Publisher of the News Echo, A.K. Yerkes, left the paper in 1892 and worked on several others in the Seattle area.

Under the new ownership of M.D. Donovan, the News-Echo name was changed to the Ballard News in 1897. Advertisements took up about 65 percent of the four-page publication.

News was brief and focused on Ballard businesses, club meetings, and the social "comings and goings" of notable Ballardites.

In 1900, Ozro H. Woody took over the Ballard News, and touted it as the "official city paper."

Acknowledging the frequent change of hands he wrote:

"The Ballard News in the past few years has had so many ups and downs that citizens never knew from one week to another where it was going to land. We trust that during the past three months we have given a fair indication of our desire to make this a clean, readable newspaper, reflecting the best sentiment and aspirations of the city."

In the years before annexation, a number of weekly papers appeared in Ballard; the Democratic Party paper the Ballard Enterprise (1892-1989), the Ballard Register (1900-1906). In 1906 the Ballard Union, Ballard Enterprise, and the Ballard Register merged to form the Weekly Millman, which held an office outside of town. That paper ran for about 15 years.

One of the MIllman's publishers, A.O. Ingham, began publishing the Ballard Bee as an independent weekly in 1903 from his office on Ballard Avenue.

The Ballard Millman was Ballard's first worker's paper and was published from 1901 to 1903. Little is known about it except that it changed its name at one point to the Shingle Weaver.

The Ruffner Era

It took the Ballard News a little more than a decade to establish ownership stability. The rapid influx of settlers during its infancy made it difficult to determine the needs of its readers.

In mid-1902, J.D. Ruffner and his sons purchased the Ballard News from Ozro Woody and J.H. Dowd. The Ruffner family published news for Ballard for 33 years.

The family established their printing plant in the heart of the business district on the second floor of the Cors and Wegener building. With the Ruffners leadership the paper was consistently community oriented.

In 1913 the Ballard News moved to the R.J. Huston Block at Market Street and 22nd Avenue Northwest.

The Ruffners followed a community oriented, apolitical formula and expressed their desire to stay out of politics even during the 1930s, a particularly volatile time in Ballard politics.

A typical News issue from about the 1910s to the 1920s included "20 years ago" a column on historical Ballard, several short articles on Ballard activities, clubs, and events and advertisements for Ballard businesses.

A.E. Ruffner passed away in 1934 and his wife carried the paper on until 1935 when it was sold to Harold Kimball family. The Kimballs' led the paper in much the same way the Ruffners did from 1935 to 1963.

In 1963 the Ballard News was sold to the News Publishing Company and at the same time merged with its long-time competitor the Ballard Tribune.

Mike Mitchell's Tribune

Mike Mitchell moved to Seattle from Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1915 to attend the University of Washington School of Journalism.

He spent 43 consecutive years as the editor and publisher of the Ballard Tribune.

Mitchell's first issue of the Tribune, dubbed "A Ballard Paper for Ballard People," was published in 1920 out of an office at 2314 Market Street.

Affiliated with the Republican Party, the Tribune spearheaded many important community projects in Ballard over the years, including the construction of the seawall running from the Ballard Locks to Golden Gardens and the reconstruction of the Ballard Bridge in 1940.

Standard issues of the weekly paper featured Random Ramblings (Mitchell's editorial), a column on Ballard church news, short items on Ballard area social groups.

With offices almost directly across the street from each other, competition between the News and the Tribune was strong. They were in constant rivalry over who could sell the most advertising, as Ballard businesses were looking for the best price.

According to Mitchell's wife, Margaret, Mike sold the paper to the News Publishing Company because he "was getting up in his years." The papers merged to form the Ballard News-Tribune.

Corporate tenure

With the merger and corporate ownership, the local flavor of the newspaper began to slip away. Claiming to be designed for homefolks, it expanded its news scope to include a larger section of North Seattle.

In 1974, the Ballard News-Tribune became Ballard Today, the first of a series of quick changes. This was part of a two-year effort by the News Publishing Company to issue weekly editions of its twelve community newspaper under the heading of Today.

Over the next few months, it changed from Ballard Today to Today, and finally to the Ballard News-Tribune Today. This was representative of the chaos behind the operation.

In 1976, Reid Hale purchased the three southern editions of Today, including Ballard and promptly changed it back to the Ballard News-Tribune.

Jerry and Elsbeth Robinson purchased the News -Tribune from Don Glockner in 1993. Glockner had gone into debt and the Robinson family offered to buy the paper and work out a payoff agreement with creditors.

The Robinson's also own the White Center News; the Federal Way New; the Des Moines News; Highline Times and the West Seattle Herald.

The family sold the papers in 1989 only to restart them in 1998 after the then publisher ceased operations.

With the exception of the introduction, most of this information was taken from the "Passport to Ballard."