Brush-Moore Newspapers


Brush-Moore Newspapers, Inc. was a United States newspaper group based in Ohio which had its origins in 1923 and was sold to Thomson Newspapers in 1967 for $72 million, the largest ever newspaper transaction at that time.
In 1923, Louis Herbert Brush, who had joined the Salem News as a manager in 1894 and purchased it in 1897, entered into a partnership with Roy Donald Moore and William Henry Vodrey, Jr. to purchase The Marion Star from then-U.S. President Warren G. Harding. By 1924, Time magazine already noted the group as one of the prominent newspaper groups in the country, with four papers and a total circulation of 30,906. In 1927, the "Brush-Moore" chain was created from their holdings.
Joseph K. Vodrey, son of W.H. Vodrey Jr., became general manager of Brush-Moore Newspapers, Inc. in 1946. Vodrey was Vice-President and a member of the Brush-Moore board of directors from 1951 to 1968, when he retired. He also served as Vice-President and as a Director of the Beaverkettle Company.
At the time of the 1967 sale, Brush-Moore owned 12 daily papers, including six in Ohio three in California, and one in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, with a total circulation of approximately 540,000.

Holdings

Ohio

Ohio Broadcasting Co. was a subsidiary of Brush-Moore which focused on radio interests.