| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | Wick Communications |
| Publisher | Phil Vega |
| Editor | Steven Byerly |
| Founded | 1955 |
| Headquarters | 102 Fab Avenue Sierra Vista, AZ 85635 United States |
| Official website | www.svherald.com |
The Sierra Vista Herald is a newspaper printed in Sierra Vista, Arizona, USA. Most of its circulation includes Sierra Vista, Huachuca City, Hereford, Palominas, and Fort Huachuca. It is also circulated in Bisbee, under the name Bisbee Daily Review.
Ky Richards Jr. and his wife, Lois, started printing the Huachuca Herald on Fridays starting Oct. 7, 1955. They put out the first editions on a typewriter, composing stories on their kitchen table. They had come from Hawaii and Lois wore a muumuu while selling advertising. She also was pregnant.
The couple decided to start printing the paper twice a week and did so starting Oct. 8, 1967. At that time, the newspaper hit the streets on Sundays and Wednesdays.
On May 22, 1968, the couple sold the newspaper to Sig H. Atkinson of Chandler and Wick Communications, founder of Wick Communications.
On Aug. 21, 1968, there was a new printing process installed called offset printing. It is still used across the world today. The Sierra Vista Herald started publishing via offset with 3,000 subscribers in 1968.
By 1969, the community was big enough that the Sierra Vista Herald could merge with the Douglas Daily Dispatch, forming the Sierra Vista Herald-Dispatch, a name many people who have lived here long enough still call us to this day.
Meanwhile, over in Bisbee, AZ, Bill Epler bought the Bisbee newspaper from Phelps Dodge in 1971 and changed it from a daily newspaper to a weekly. He sold the newspaper to the Wick family in 1974 and it was changed back to a daily on Oct. 4, 1976, when Walt M. Wick and Milton I. Wick were publishers of the Herald. At that time, they combined the Herald with the Bisbee Daily Review.
In 1976, the newspaper added The Associated Press wire service news, and then it began publishing five days a week: another sign of a community on the rise.
It was nearly five years later on Sunday, June 14, 1981, that a Sunday edition was added.
The Herald building has undergone a series of additions since the first office was built at 102 Fab Ave. in 1961. It was expanded by 1,800 square feet (170 m2) in 1968.
In 1975, a new pressroom and business offices were added, with the area of the building going from 4,907 square feet (455.9 m2) up to 8,400 square feet (780 m2)
In 1985, extra newsprint storage was needed, so an additional 1,862 square feet (173.0 m2) was added. Things were quiet for a while until 1996 when the front office/classified space was built in 1996.
In 2002, a brand-new pressroom facility was built, and it opened in 2003. The Hager Building at 400 Veterans Drive added 9,100 square feet (850 m2) to the newspaper's still-growing facilities. Along with the new building came a new press with much more color capability and a higher printing speed.
In 2004, the Herald changed to a morning, seven-days-a-week newspaper.
The Herald celebrated its 50th anniversary on Oct. 7, 2005.