About The Columbian Publishing Co.
The Columbian is Clark County’s best source of award-winning local news and information. We are here to be your trusted source and keep our community informed. Our products include our newspaper, published Tuesday-Sunday, our website, www.columbian.com, and our sister newspaper, the Camas-Washougal Post-Record.
Owned by the Campbell family since 1921, The Columbian is one of the few remaining news organizations in the country with local, family ownership. The Campbells are actively engaged in the business, including fourth-generation Publisher Ben Campbell.
Our employees live and work here. We care about the communities we serve, and are proud of our role in delivering Clark County.
History
October 10, 1890
Vancouver weekly Columbian began publication. Local printer Tom Carolan publishes the first issue of the Vancouver Columbian. It was established as a Democratic paper to counter the local Republican paper. A few years later, it switched to the Republican party.
October 19, 1908
First issue of The Columbian as a daily newspaper, the first in Clark County.
Publisher Elmer E. Beard changes publication from weekly to daily. The paper is renamed The Vancouver Daily Columbian.
September 1, 1918
George Hyland became owner and editor of the Columbian taking over from Elmer E. Beard, who had been publisher for 14 years.
May 1919
W.H. Homibrook becomes owner and editor.
April 1921
Herbert J. Campbell buys The Columbian. A Republican, Campbell changes the editorial stance to neutral. The paper at the time was in a renovated post office building at Fourth and Washington but soon outgrows that space, too.
May 28, 1928
Vancouver Columbian issues a 76-page "Progress Edition", containing local history and current industry information.
April 1937
The Columbian is the first plant in the world, newspaper or otherwise, to install the Model 30 Linotype machines. They are the largest, latest, finest and incidentally, the most expensive linotypes ever built. The Columbian ordered three of them, in addition to one regular machine. The Columbian is the first plant in the world to install the "two in one" models, a super-production machine. Two of the three new linotypes are of this model.
April 13, 1937
The Vancouver Columbian editorially announced that it was inaugurating the use of "Pictures by telegraph" the Associated Press wire picture service.
August 6, 1938
The Columbian of Vancouver ceased publishing on Saturdays.
February 20, 1939
Herbert J. Campbell, publisher of The Columbian was appointed by the new mayor of Vancouver, A.N. Stanley, to succeed John P. Kiggins, who resigned as chairman of the Fort Vancouver Restoration Committee.
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May 29, 1941
Driving home from Salem, Herbert Campbell is stricken with a heart attack and dies. His widow, Anna Boyd Campbell, becomes the newspaper's president, a title she carried until 1965. Editor Ray Bachman, a 15-year Columbian veteran, is named publisher.
August 30, 1947
The Sun, a competing paper, is sold to the Campbell family and merged into The Daily Columbian. The newspaper's logo carries the name of both papers for the next 10 years. The Sun was founded in 1906.
November 3, 1954
Mrs. Ann Boyd Campbell turned over the first spadeful of earth inaugurating the construction of the new home of the Vancouver Columbian at West 8th and Grant Streets. Cost of the building, $375,000.
August 22, 1955
The Vancouver Columbian opened for business at its new home at 8th and Grant Streets, Vancouver.
November 2, 1955
The Vancouver Columbian for the first time used its newly installed "photo facsimile machine, plugged into 21,000 miles of leased wire" thus enabling it to illustrate the days news with pictures taken the same day.
October 30, 1956
The Vancouver Columbian devoted much of its regular edition to lists of and detailed descriptions of the industries of Vancouver and Clark County. This is good for reference work.
January 1962
The Campbells' sons, Don P. and Jack R., become co-publishers. Don handles the business side of the newspaper as General Manager and Co-Publisher, with his younger brother Jack as Editor and Co-Publisher.
January 15, 1968
The Columbian becomes the first newspaper west of the Mississippi River to use the new Goss Metro offset press, now the workhorse of the newspaper industry. The same press still is used to print the newspaper.
Early 1970's
Demand for Columbian commercial printing grew rapidly in the '70s and by 1976 an additional press was added. Two years later, The Columbian purchased and remodeled the building just west of the main facility and moved the commercial presses to that location.
August 6, 1972
The Columbian publishes its first Sunday edition.
July 15, 1978
Jack R. Campbell dies of a sudden heart attack at age 49. Don Campbell becomes the sole publisher.
May 18, 1980
Columbian photographer Reid Blackburn is killed as Mount St. Helens erupts and rains chaos throughout the Pacific Northwest.
August 1987
Don Campbell retires. His son, Scott Campbell, becomes publisher of The Columbian at age 31.
November 1994
The first Columbian.com website was launched. The site consists of a subscription-request form, a classified-ad form, a list of contacts at the paper and a couple of other items available online.
July 10, 1999
The Columbian publishes its first Saturday edition in 61 years, becoming a seven-day-a-week newspaper for the first time.
July 2000
The Columbian converts to morning delivery, seven days a week.
December 2002
The Columbian purchases approximately 6 acres near Esther Short Park, laying the groundwork for developing a new site in the downtown core area.
October 2004
The Columbian purchases the Camas-Washougal Post-Record, a weekly newspaper headquartered in Camas, Washington.
March 2006
Groundbreaking for The Columbian's new office building.
January 2008
The Columbian's new building opens its doors for business.
December 2008
Due to a severe recession and drop in advertising revenue, The Columbian suffers its worst financial year in decades. The company returns to its former location at 701 W. 8th Street.
May 2011
First Columbian apps introduced - The Columbian launches its first mobile apps for iPhone, Android and Blackberry.
April 2014
The Columbian launches its full-service digital marketing agency, Sprout Digital. Sprout specializes in website design and search engine optimization (SEO) for businesses in Vancouver, WA and the surrounding area.
January 6, 2020
Looking for major cost savings while providing the least disruption to readers, advertising customers and journalism, The Columbian decides to drop newspaper publication on Mondays.
May 2020
Ben Campbell becomes the 4th generation publisher of The Columbian. His father, Scott Campbell, transitions to chairman of the board.
January 11, 2021
The Columbian reintroduces its Monday newspaper in ePaper format. Click here for a demo.
April 2021
The Columbian celebrates 100 years of local family ownership under four generations of the Campbell family. Read more...
columbian.com Milestones
July 5, 1994
The columbian.com domain name is first registered.
September 2007
columbian.com tops the 1 million pageview mark for any given month.
December 2009
With over over 2.1 million pageviews, columbian.com tops the 2 million pageview mark for any given month.
September 2010
With over over 3.1 million pageviews, columbian.com tops the 3 million pageview mark for any given month.
September 17, 2010
With 240,592 pageviews, Sept. 17, 2010, was the largest single-day of traffic on columbian.com. The top story of the day? The Bethany Storro Hoax.
August 6, 2019
The website relaunches with a fresh new look, adding a better user experience, modern design, beautiful typography, and a rethought home page layout, with a cleaner interface for story lists and highly improved focus in articles.
March 2020
With over 4.7 million pageviews, columbian.com tops the 4 million pageview mark for any given month, coinciding with the height of the global introduction of the COVID-19 pandemic.
