History
The Valley Press was founded by A.J. Hicks on Saturday, April 3, 1915 as the Palmdale Post. At the time, the Valley was home to about 3,500 people. Over the decades of the 20th century, the newspaper changed hands, and there were a few name changes as well. On May 4, 1950, the paper became known as the South Antelope Valley Press.
On July 1, 1958, four men initiated a partnership between the Markham and Odett families. Arthur F. Folz was president of the board of directors in 1958, with Ralph and his brother Maurice W. Markham as vice presidents and Lamont Odett Sr. as secretary-treasurer. Ralph H. Markham bought out Maurice W. Markham, and Lamont Odett Sr. bought out Arthur F. Folz on April 1, 1961, to create the partnership of Ralph H. Markham and Lamont Odett Sr. In October 1975, Lamont Odett Sr. died and sons Bill and Monty Odett Jr. became co-publishers. On March 1, 1981, William C. Markham joined the Odetts in daily management of the paper and was elected corporate vice president and advertising director. William C. Markham became president of the board of directors after Ralph H. Markham's death in November 1985.
The Markham family became sole owners of the Antelope Valley Press in January 1994. William C. Markham is president and publisher. . The William Odett family had father William and his son Lamont ("Monty") Odett Sr. running the day to day operations of The Yuma Morning Sun (Now The Yuma Sun) with William's new wife Miriam as part of the team in the circa 1925 to 1935 period in Yuma, Arizona. When the Morning Sun changed ownership in 1935, the Odetts moved to the San Fernando Valley and later to Palmdale.
The paper later dropped the "South" from its nameplate, and became simply the Antelope Valley Press by the early 1960s. It was a Thursday afternoon weekly until 1959 when a Sunday edition debuted. The Tuesday edition was added in 1969, followed by Friday (1982) and Wednesday (1988), Saturday (1992) and finally the Monday edition in 1998, making the Antelope Valley Press a full-fledged daily newspaper - perhaps the first Mojave Desert California based newspaper to commence daily publishing with morning delivery. The paper remains in family hands, and has never been corporately owned or had nonlocal ownership.
Read more about this topic: Antelope Valley Press
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