MacNamara Press, & Co. in New Shelby, California was established in 1837 by Patrick MacNamara and his wife, Marian.

By 1839, MacNamara Press was a growing business that needed much attention; Patrick MacNamara began to not only print books, wanted posters, and business cards, but soon The New Shelby Tribune was introduced to the town at full force.

In 1840, James Hyde was hired on to help with the delivery and organization of The New Shelby Tribune, and was eventually promoted to Staff Manager when Patrick MacNamara took over the job of Chief Editor and owner of MacNamara Press. With a total of 8 Staff Members by 1850, including James Hyde's only son, Quinlan (hired: 1843), the company was going strong until the end of the Gold Rush neared, and The notorious Dooger Brothers' Gang had seemingly single-handedly destroyed the lovely little town of New Shelby.

Co-Founder, Marian MacNamara was murdered on February 25th, 1852, and to this day, it is unknown as to whether or not any of the members of the Dooger gang were responsible. The business had hit rock bottom by 1854 and Patrick MacNamara was forced to let most of his valued and dedicated employees go, who fled the town of New Shelby for fear the Dooger gang might return.

When the paper stopped bringing in sales, it was forced to actually stop syndication from late November of 1854 until early March of 1856. During this time, the only printing MacNamara Press, & Co. could afford were Wanted and Reward posters for the Sherriff's Office and the town as well as odd jobs here and there. All employees of the company had either been let go for lack of means to pay them, or had remorsefully quit except for the young Quinlan Hyde, who took a major cut in salary, but opted to stick with the company.

By 1863, the town was starting to pick back up, the population was growing, and that meant more sales, etc. In the Fall of 1863, Patrick MacNamara was able to afford to hire James Hyde back onto the staff; and the Company was solely run by Patrick MacNamara, James Hyde, and Mr. Hyde's son, Quinlan.

The town of New Shelby seemed to be back into a steady flow and the business was back off to a slow start, but certainly accomplishing more than it had been. Patrick MacNamara passed away on August 1st, 1865 at the age of 71. Before his death, he managed to journey to the capitol of California and more than likely pleaded and begged to have officials award his publication, regardless of whetherThe New Shelby Tribune was deserving or not. After much arguing and debate, and quite possibly anger and under the table scheming, paying, and forcing, officials named Mr. MacNamara's publication The Best in the West side of California for it's up-to-date news, advertising section, dedication, and clarity, 'according to the Governor of the state'.

James Hyde was entrusted with the MacNamara Press, & Co. when Patrick MacNamara died, however, the English born Mr. Hyde didn't have much left in him either, and passed away in early 1866.

The Company was left to Quinlan Hyde, who is now attempting to single-handedly run the company by himself, and is more than likely going to work himself to death if he doesn't find a partner to help run the place.

NOW HIRING.

Employees / Staff

• Owner, Chief Editor - Quinlan Hyde
• Co-Owner - OPEN
• Assistant To The Editor(s) - OPEN
• Operator of the Press - Quinlan Hyde
• Reporter(s) - Molly Ashwood (pen name: Cynthia Trimble), Ophelia Stover
• Journalist(s) -  Molly Ashwood (pen name: Cynthia Trimble), Ophelia Stover
• Columnist(s) - OPEN
• Delivery person(s) - OPEN

Helpful Information

• A Brief History of Newspapers - www.historicpages.com/nprhist.htm
• The History of Newspaper Printing Presses - www.historybuff.com/library/reftechnology.html

History

The ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791 at last guaranteed of freedom of the press, and America's newspapers began to take on a central role in national affairs. Growth continued in every state. By 1814 there were 346 newspapers. In the Jacksonian populist 1830's, advances in printing and papermaking technology led to an explosion of newspaper growth, the emergence of the "Penny Press"; it was now possible to produce a newspaper that could be sold for just a cent a copy. Previously, newspapers were the province of the wealthy, literate minority. The price of a year's subscription, usually over a full week's pay for a laborer, had to be paid in full and "invariably in advance." This sudden availability of cheap, interesting reading material was a significant stimulus to the achievement of the nearly universal literacy now taken for granted in America.

The industrial revolution, as it transformed all aspects of American life and society, dramatically affected newspapers. Both the numbers of papers and their paid circulations continued to rise. The 1850 census catalogued 2,526 titles. In the 1850's powerful, giant presses appeared, able to print ten thousand complete papers per hour. At this time the first "pictorial" weekly newspapers emerged; they featured for the first time extensive illustrations of events in the news, as woodcut engravings made from correspondents' sketches or taken from that new invention, the photograph. During the Civil War the unprecedented demand for timely, accurate news reporting transformed American journalism into a dynamic, hardhitting force in the national life. Reporters, called "specials," became the darlings of the public and the idols of youngsters everywhere. Many accounts of battles turned in by these intrepid adventurers stand today as the definitive histories of their subjects.

Newspaper growth continued unabated in the postwar years. An astounding 11,314 different papers were recorded in the 1880 census.