Launch ''1859 Oregon's Magazine'' is run by a small staff in Bend, Oregon. Kevin Max is the chief content officer. Kevin Max, a New York City financial journalist, relocated to Oregon and founded the magazine. While working as a journalist around the state, Max was inspired by historic buildings dating back to the year of Oregon's statehood, 1859, and by the prominence of the year on the
Oregon flag. Despite the difficult economic situation prevalent at the time of its 2009 launch — a moment at which American magazines were experiencing a 26% decline in ad revenue over previous-year figures — ''1859 Oregon's Magazine'' experienced initial success powered by its placement in
Borders Books,
Barnes & Noble, and the grocery chain
Whole Foods. The magazine's debut issue saw a total of 30,000 copies produced.
Honors In April 2011,
1859 was nominated for a Maggie Award in the category "Best New Quarterly Magazine" by the Maggie Awards Committee of the
Western Publishing Association in Los Angeles. The nomination, based upon inspection of publication's Autumn 2010 issue, was based upon ten specific editorial aspects involving cover design, layout, typography, and editorial content. ''1859 Oregon's Magazine
won the 68th Annual Maggie Awards Best Consumer Publication and Best State/Regional Publication in 2020. Its sister publication, 1889 Washington's Magazine'', took Best Special Interest Publication 2020. == References ==