The Appleton Crescent was formed in 1853 as a weekly newspaper, the same year that Appleton became a village. The
Crescent was a determinedly Democratic newspaper, created by
Samuel, James and John Ryan.
Edna Ferber, later a famed writer and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, became a reporter at the Appleton Crescent at the age of 17 and worked there for about 18 months, approximately 1902–1903. The
Crescents Jacksonian Democratic politics upset Republicans, and a second newspaper, The Appleton Motor''''', was formed by
F.C. Meade on August 18, 1859. Meade was soon joined by Ryan's brother Francis. While the two newspapers were bitter rivals, they did cooperate at times. When the
Crescent suffered serious damage in 1863 from apparent arson, the
Motor ran an article condemning the act. The
Motor changed its name to
The Appleton Post in 1887 after changing hands several times. The
Post's buildings were damaged that year, and donations from the
Crescent kept the paper open.
The Appleton Post-Crescent was formed when the
Post and the
Crescent merged on February 2, 1920. The first paper was published on February 10, 1920. Editors decided to not align with either political party.
The Appleton Post-Crescent decided to purchase the
Twin City News-Record, which had been formed when the
Menasha Record and the
Neenah News Times merged in 1949. The "Appleton" portion of the name was removed in 1964 to reflect that the newspaper reached farther than the city limits. Publisher V.I. Minahan coined the term "the
Fox Cities" in 1953, which is now a common term to describe the metropolitan Appleton area. ==Ownership==