Quad-City Times
The Quad-City Times is a daily morning newspaper based in Davenport, Iowa, and circulated throughout the Quad Cities metropolitan area, including Davenport, Bettendorf and Scott County in Iowa; and Moline, East Moline, Rock Island, and Rock Island County in Illinois.
"Times-Democrat" redirects here. For the New Orleans paper, see The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.Type
Deb Anselm
Tom Martin
1855
English
500 E. Third St.
Davenport, Iowa 52801
U.S.
22,116 Daily
23,685 Sunday (as of 2023)[1]
As a regional newspaper, the Quad-City Times is also circulated and has readership in Cedar, Clinton, Jackson, Louisa and Muscatine counties in Iowa; and Carroll, Henry, Mercer and Whiteside counties in Illinois.
According to the Iowa Newspaper Association, the Quad-City Times has a circulation of 61,366 as of 2006.[2] The newspaper is owned by Lee Enterprises, which is also located in Davenport.
History[edit]
19th century[edit]
The Quad-City Times grew from several predecessors, including the Democratic Banner and Blue Ribbon News.
The Democratic Banner was founded in 1848, was sold in 1855 to a group of business owners, and rechristened the Iowa State Democrat. The Iowa State Democrat published its first edition on October 15 of that year, with E. T. Eagel as its first publisher. The newspaper underwent many changes throughout its early history, and by 1899, its circulation was 1,300 daily and 2,500 weekly. By 1903, it was known as the Davenport Democrat.
20th century[edit]
In 1905, after purchasing its rival newspaper, The Davenport Leader, the name became The Davenport Democrat & Leader, under the city editorship of Ralph W. Cram.
The newspaper was sold to Lee Enterprises in 1915; thereafter, Cram became editor and publisher until 1940. Davenport was dropped from masthead in 1937,[3] and by 1951 the newspaper adopted the name of Morning Democrat.[4]
The Blue Ribbon News began publication in 1878; by 1886, it was known as the Davenport Daily Times. The newspaper, which struggled for many years, was sold in 1899 to A. W. Lee (founder of Lee Enterprises) for $120,000.
Both newspapers continued to grow in circulation before being combined into one newspaper - Times-Democrat - in 1964. By 1974, with circulation expanding throughout eastern Iowa and western Illinois, the newspaper was given its current name.
In December 1989, the Quad-City Times moved into its current building at 500 E. Third St., in Davenport, Iowa. The facility, completed for $23.8 million, includes a five-story press room, mail room, warehouse, and editorial offices. The facility also houses Trico, the newspaper's commercial printing business.
The Quad-City Times has been on the leading edge of technology, becoming the first all-electronic newspaper in 1973. Electronic pagination began in 1988, with all-digital photography taking root by 1994.
Other publications previously produced by the Quad-City Times include: