Co-Publishers Ron and Anne Loesch show off some of the 40 bound volumes of the Petersburg Pilot along with the first edition of the paper. February 6, 2014 marks the 40th anniversary of the newspaper that was started by Jamie Bryson who was the publisher of the Wrangell Sentinel at the time. In 1975 Von Braschler purchased the paper and in July 1976 sold it to Loesch.
Over a period of 60 years, Petersburg has had four weekly newspapers, one of which operated under two different names. The Petersburg Pilot is the fifth paper and was founded on February 8, 1974.
Newspaper history in Petersburg began on January 18, 1913 with the appearance of The Progressive, "published every Saturday" by J.E. Rivard and J. Frederick Johnson. Rivard was editor.
The Progressive survived only a year.
Johnson's name last appeared on the masthead on March 8, 1913 and the paper's last issue in Petersburg was on Sept. 26, 1914. Editor Rivard announced laconically that, "we can't make it." He moved the paper to Ketchikan where it continued to publish until 1917.
Three months later, on Dec. 5, 1914, The Petersburg Weekly Report appeared with Lynn W. Miller as editor and publisher. Publication was on Saturday and the subscription price was $2.50 per year.
With the issue of July 5, 1918, M.S. Perkins succeeded Miller as editor and publisher. Perkins had been at Juneau with The Alaska Daily Empire.
Perkins continued to publish the paper until February 1924 when Sidney D. Charles took over. Charles had been publishing the Sitka Tribune since 1921. With issue of March 7, Editor Charles changed the name of the paper to The Petersburg Herald. At the time the paper was published each Friday and the subscription price was $4 per year.
In the Issue of Feb. 26, 1926 Charles announced that he was turning the paper over to the holder of notes. The Petersburg Herald did not publish again until Wednesday, May 19, 1926. By the summer of that year, the paper folded and Harry M. Appleton was publisher.
On July 23, 1926, The Alaskan appeared with Louis F. Paul, editor and manager. This was published by the A.N.B Publishing Co. and produced on equipment shipped down from Skagway. The Alaskan published on Friday. Its last edition on file was Vo. VII, No. 11, Sept. 30, 1932.
Meanwhile, the Petersburg Press made its appearance on August 27, 1926, published by the Viking Publishing, Co. John W. Schoettler and Albert O. Elstad were the publishers and proprietors. It published under a long series of editors until May 2, 1941 when new owners took over the Petersburg Press.
Claire A. and Ethel Wilder moved down from Juneau where they had been associated with The Alaska Daily Press. The Wilders published the Press until the summer of 1953 when he was appointed United States Marshal for the First Division of Alaska. With the issue of July 31, 1953, Edward L. Clemons took over as editor and publisher and published the paper with his wife Betty Mae who was a daughter of the Wilders.
In the May 25 edition in 1956 Lew M. Williams, Jr., and his wife Dorothy took over the paper and continued the operation for 10 years until they moved to Ketchikan to work for the Ketchikan Daily News. They continued as owners, hiring editors such as Ed Young, Nancy Strand and Albro Gregory.
With the issue of Sept. 8, 1967, Charles F. Willis was listed as publisher with Albro Gregory as editor. Willis was president of Alaska Airlines.
In March 1971 the paper was sold to Glenn Luckie, who was first listed as publisher in the issue of March 17, 1971. In the last issue of the Petersburg Press on January 31, 1974, Glenn Luckie wrote, "we can't make it," and indicated he might move his plant elsewhere.
Realizing that Petersburg was about to lose its newspaper, Wrangell Sentinel editor and publisher Jamie Bryson, 38, flew to Petersburg and started the Petersburg Pilot, whose first edition appeared on February 8, 1974. Bryson and a rag tag staff of full and part-time workers published the paper until March 5, 1975, when he announced on the front page of the paper that he was tired, and had stretched himself too thin by attempting to publish two weekly newspapers.
Lew Williams Jr. of the Ketchikan Daily News recruited the Pilot's next
publisher, Von Braschler, who got the next edition on the streets on April 9, 1975. All the paper's typesetting and layout was done in the offices of the Ketchikan Daily News, which also had been printing both Wrangell and Petersburg papers for years.
On July 14, 1976 Braschler bid the town farewell and announced the arrival of the state's youngest publisher, Ron Loesch, 23, who came to Petersburg from the Ketchikan Daily News. In August 1977 Loesch married his co-publisher and the couple continue to publish the paper.
Lew Williams, Jr. in his book titled, "Bent Pins to Chains; Alaska and its Newspapers," wrote: "The Loesches purchased a building and their own newspaper printing press and upgraded other commercial printing and typesetting equipment over the years. By the 1990s they were competing with other printers rather than have their presswork done in Ketchikan or Juneau.
"They were also winning awards. Ron was a community leader. With Anne they are experts in operating a successful Alaska weekly newspaper, thus increasing the value of the newspaper to the community as well as the publishers."
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