The company was founded as
Merritt Speidel and associates by Merritt C. Speidel in 1921 with the help of John Ben Snow. The company started with the
Iowa City Press-Citizen. In 1936, the company bought the
Fort Collins Express-Courier which would become the
Fort Collins Coloradoan. It added the
Poughkeepsie Evening Star and Enterprise and the
Poughkeepsie Morning Eagle-News (predecessors of the
Poughkeepsie New Yorker) in 1941. The
Visalia Times-Delta became the company's 7th newspaper in 1948. Speidel retired from his namesake company in 1956. He died four years later in 1960. At the time, the group included the
Poughkeepsie New Yorker,
Chillicothe Gazette, the
Evening Gazette and Evening State Journal,
Fort Collins Coloradoan, the
Sailinas Daily Californian, and the
Visalia Times-Delta. When it merged with Gannett in 1976, 13 newspapers were part of the company. At the time, the newspapers included the
St. Cloud Times, the
Argus Leader, the
Fort Collins Coloradoan, the
Record, the
Fremont Tribune, and others. When it merged with Gannett, Speidel consisted of the following newspapers: •
Iowa City Press-Citizen •
Poughkeepsie New Yorker •
Chillicothe Gazette •
Evening Gazette and Evening State Journal •
Fort Collins Coloradoan •
Sailinas Daily Californian •
Visalia Times-Delta •
St. Cloud Times •
Argus Leader •
Fort Collins Coloradoan •
Record •
Fremont Tribune == References ==