Archival Collection #239 Advance, Newspaper Collection, Grand Rapids Press
Identifier:
2016.25.1Description:
A large collection of bound editions of the Advance newspaper from Ottawa and Kent County regions. Papers focused on providing residents local area news and advertisements. The majority were distributed weekly, with the exception of Downtown / On the Town that was published montly. Many were distributed free with others have a low (25 to 45 cent) listed price.The collection includes:
Ada / Forest Hills / East Grand Rapids Areas:
- Advance from 1987 through 1989
- Ada / Forest Hills Advance from April 1987 through 1991
- Ada, Cascade, Forest Hills Cadence January to March 1991
- Ada / Forest Hills Advance 1991 through 2005
- East Grand Rapids Advance 1990 through 1991
- East Grand Rapids Cadence January 1991 through 2005
- Advance Suburban Life (East Grand Rapids, Forest Hills, Ada & Cascade) 1983 through 1987
- Grand Valley Shoppers' Guide (Allendale, Coopersville, East Ottawa, westside Grand Rapids) January 1976 through 1982
- Grand Valley Advance (Grandville, Jenison, Hudsonville 1982 through September 2002
- Grand Valley Advance East (Grandville and Jension) October 2002 through 2005
- Grand Valley Avance West (Hudsonville, Jamestown, Zeeland, Borculo) October 2002 through 2005
- North Ottawa Shopper (Grand Haven) August to December 1972
- Advance Shoppers' Guide - Ottawa County Edition January 1976 through 2005. Renamed Ottawa Advance in 1979.
- Byron Center / Dorr Advance March 1990 through 1994
- Kentwood Advance August 1983 through 2005
- Northfield Advance (Northeast Grand Rapids, rural Grand Rapids Township, Plainfield) August 1983 through 2005
- The Orbit (Wayland area) January 1986 through 1990
- North Kent Advance August 1983 through October 1989
- Sparta Reminder Sentinal Leader January to June 1974 and July to December 1978
- Sparta / North Kent Advance
- Grand Rapids Advance August 1991 (Vol 1, No 1) through 2005
- Downtown - "Music, Theatre, Art, Dance, Literature and Entertainment in Downtown Grand Rapids" September 1982 (Vol 1, No 1) to December 1983 (2 copies of each)
- On-The-Town (Downtown remamed). March 1984 to 1995 (2 copies of each with exception of 1991 with one copy and 1992 with three copies). From 1996 to 2005 one copy of each bound. Missing 1997.
Date:
1972 – 2005Collection Tier:
Tier 2Related Entity:
Grand Rapids Press (donor)Alternate names: Evening Press, Evening Press and Leader
The history of the Grand Rapids Press began in 1890 when William J. Sproat published the first issue of Morning Press. In 1892, George G. Booth purchased both the Morning Press and the Grand Rapids Evening Leader and in December of that year, the Evening Press and Leader was formed by joining the two papers. In early 1893, the name was shortened to the Evening Press and was used until 1913 when the name changed to the Grand Rapids Press. The Grand Rapids Herald merged with the Press in 1959.
The Grand Rapids Press had five locations in the West Michigan area prior to moving production to Ohio in 2020. The first was at 63 Pearl Street, Grand Rapids, Michigan on the second floor of the Metropolitan building. These offices were used by the Press from 1890 to 1892 until they moved to offices on the southeast end of the Pearl Street Bridge. This location, often referred to as the "by the bridge" location, was the first to include a printing press owned by the newspaper. After a remodel in 1893 due to a spring flood, the tanbark gymnasium, dedicated as the Newsboys Assembly Hall in 1894, was built for the newsboys after their original space became home to a second printing press. In 1906 the Evening Press moved to the corner of Fulton and Sheldon in Grand Rapids, Michigan to accommodate the growth of the business. Built specifically for the Press, the building was designed by Albert Kahn and consisted of four floors including an auditorium on the top floor and a pool in the basement. The Press stayed at this location until 1966 when they moved to a new, larger facility at 155 Michigan Street in Grand Rapids. They stayed at this facility until a move to Walker, Michigan in 2004. This was the final Michigan location of the Press prior to moving production out of state in 2020.
The Grand Rapids Press is part of Booth Newspapers, a media company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Formed in 1914 by brothers George G. Booth, Ralph H. Booth, and Edmund W. Booth, it owned The Bay City Times, The Flint Journal, The Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, The Saginaw News, and Advance Newspapers.
