History

John Gordon Cashman published the first edition of the Vicksburg Evening Post on May 4, 1883, in a second-floor office on Washington Street.

At the time he was working for a morning newspaper and became weary of the arduous night work, as it was injurious to both eyesight and health. He named it the Vicksburg Evening Post to distinguish it from the dominant daily morning newspaper of the day. Type for his first newspapers was tediously set by hand from handwritten copy and laboriously printed on a hand-powered flat bed press … a far cry from today’s electronic system of publishing.

Since that day, the newspaper has survived depressions, wars, floods, tornadoes, bad economic times, many competitive newspapers and assorted ups and downs. In 1883, Cashman’s newspaper was a bold undertaking. Vicksburg has had more than 80 in its long history.

Fierce competition of the Vicksburg Evening Post and The Vicksburg Herald finally was subdued when the Cashman family purchased the Herald on February 7, 1925. For a quarter of century after that Vicksburg had a morning and an afternoon paper, which was combined on Sundays as The Sunday Post-Herald. In 1951, The Post designed and built a modern two-story building at the corner of South and Cherry, the first issue at the location being printed on April 7, 1952.

In December 1953, tragedy struck Vicksburg that will forever be remembered by those who lived it. A violent tornado killed dozens of citizens. It destroyed the building from which the newspaper had just moved. It also offered the newspaper staff a challenge. Under the most difficult conditions, the staff, improvising without the gas to fire the Linotypes, worked to publish the newspaper and keep citizens informed as to the fate of their friends and families. They worked tirelessly to quell rampant rumors that spread in a darkened city, most of which was without power and communications. For its efforts, the newspaper was awarded the most coveted prize in journalism, the Pulitzer Prize.

The afternoon newspaper being a hands-down winner in reader popularity, The Vicksburg Herald and The Sunday Post-Herald were suspended in 1957 with the Sunday paper being renamed Vicksburg Sunday Post.

In August 2015, The Vicksburg Post launched a special, community magazine, Vicksburg Living. The magazine publishes six times each year.

Circulation

The Vicksburg Post is a 7-day daily with 9,000 circulation.

Internet presence

www.vicksburgpost.com (news site)
www.vicksburgliving.net

Awards

The Vicksburg Post has won numerous state, regional and national awards through its history, including the 1954 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting for the newspaper’s coverage of a deadly tornado that hit the city in December 1953.

Community Involvement

The Vicksburg Post and its staff are deeply involved in the Vicksburg community. The newspaper supports a number of local events and charitable causes. Many of its employees volunteer with local civic groups, organizations, churches and other charitable causes.