The Indianapolis Star

The Indianapolis Star was founded on June 6, 1903 by Muncie industrialist George F. McCulloch as competition to two other Indianapolis dailies, the Indianapolis Journal and the Indianapolis Sentinel. It acquired the Journal a year and two days later, and bought the Sentinel in 1906. Daniel G. Reid purchased the Star in 1904 and hired John Shaffer as publisher, later replacing him. In the ensuing court proceedings, Saffer emerged as the majority owner of the paper in 1911 and served as publisher and editor until his death in 1943.

Eugene C. Pulliam purchased the Star from Shaffer's estate on April 25, 1944 and adopted initiatives to increase the paper's circulation. In 1944, the Star had trailed the evening Indianapolis News but by 1948 had become Indiana's largest newspaper.

In 1948, Pulliam purchased the News and combined the business, mechanical, advertising, and circulation operations of the two papers, with the News moving into the Star's building in 1950. The editorial and news operations remained separate. Eugene S. Pulliam took over as publisher upon the death of his father in 1975, a role he retained until his own death in 1999.

In 1999, the News ceased publication, leaving the Star as the only major daily paper in Indianapolis. Soon thereafter the trustees of Central Newspapers, Inc., the owner of the Star and other newspapers in Indiana and Arizona, began investigating the sale of the small chain to a larger entity. In 2000,Gannett Company acquired the paper, leaving Indianapolis with no locally owned daily newspaper other than the black-interest Indianapolis Recorder.

On July 27, 2012 it was announced that Indianapolis Star would relocate to a new location to accommodate more employes. There is no word on when the move will take place. The current location has been used since the papers founding.