The News was established in 1874 to support the successful, post-Reconstruction gubernatorial election bid of an ex-Confederate general. The News became publicly held in 1888. The initial stock offering was 600 shares at $25 per share, or $ 60,025 per share in today's dollars. The News competed with the historically pro-Union, anti-secessionist forerunner to the Greenville Piedmont (founded 1826), until 1927, when the fifth owners of The News, Greenville's Peace family, bought the Piedmont. In the first half of this century, two former editors of The News, W.W. Ball and J. Rion McKissick, became deans of the University of South Carolina's College of Journalism and Mass Communications. McKissick later became president of the university.

The smaller afternoon Piedmont was merged with the larger morning The News in September 1995. The Greenville News and Greenville Piedmont helped form Multimedia, Inc., in 1967, and The News joined Gannett with the acquisition of Multimedia in December 1995. The News moved to its present location in 1914. Its current building opened in 1968.

The Greenville News
305 South Main St., Greenville, SC 29602-1688
(864) 298-4100
Greenvilleonline.com