A block of Mobile newspaper history

Enlarged view of newsies in front of the Van Antwerp Building.

Van Antwerp Building, Royal and Dauphin streets about 1900.

Though a viewer may not realize it, this photo from the Historic Mobile Preservation Society tells a lot about Mobile’s newspaper history.

Mobile photographer William E. Wilson took this photo of the G. Van Antwerp & Sons building and others at the southwest corner of Royal and Dauphin streets about 1900. Druggist Garrett Van Antwerp (1833-1911) had been in business on this corner since 1888. As can be seen from the painting and signs on the walls, Van Antwerp sold drugs, seeds, and sundries, an interesting mix of offerings. Van Antwerp became wealthy from his pharmacy businesses.

The east side of the Van Antwerp building faces Royal Street and the north side faces Dauphin Street. The block of buildings on Royal Street running south from Dauphin to Conti Street formed something of a newspaper row in the late 1800s.

During the Civil War, the Mobile Advertiser and Register, two separate newspapers that combined in 1861, occupied the corner building at 4 S. Royal. A few doors south in one of the buildings with the ironwork balconies at 12 S. Royal, the Mobile Register had offices before the war. After the war, a Yankee named E.O. Haile first took over the Register but then was forced to return it to owner John Forsyth. Haile then issued his own newspaper the Mobile Daily News from 12 S. Royal.

By the time Wilson took this photo, the News had moved to 59 St. Michael Street and in 1872 the Register had moved two blocks north to the southwest corner of Royal and St. Michael streets. Across Royal Street from the Register was the office of the Mobile Tribune.

But a bit of newspaper history is still visible in this photo. Standing on the sidewalk corner are eight boys all about the same age and similarly dressed. At least three of the boys, and maybe four, are clutching a bundle of newspapers. These boys are newsies, newspaper street sellers. Most associated with newsies is the flat cap, sometimes called a newsboy cap. The newsies in the early 1900s usually wore knee pants and knicker suits with black long stockings. Some of older boys wore long pants. All of those clothing styles can be seen in this photo.

The boys without newspapers may have sold out of their copies and were hanging out with their comrades. Or perhaps they sold different newspapers issued at a different time of day. At any rate, the intersection of the two streets where streetcar routes crossed and passengers loaded and unloaded was a good place to peddle papers.

Van Antwerp Building about 1908
Erik Overbey photo
Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library
University of South Alabama

In a few short years, this entire scene changed drastically. In 1906, Van Antwerp demolished the building on the corner and the next couple of buildings with ironwork balconies on Royal Street. Then the company broke ground for a new Van Antwerp Building. At 11 stories, it was the city’s first skyscraper. Completed in 1908, the building, covered in gleaming white terra-cotta tiles, became an instant landmark.

In 1911, S.H. Kress & Co. announced it had bought L-shaped properties on Dauphin and Royal streets that abutted at the rear and would build a new structure for its retail store with frontage on both streets. The purchase included the Yeend & Potter building at 115 and 117 Dauphin Street and the property owned by Mrs. Harry Chapman at 18 and 20 Royal Street. Two more of Mobile’s 19^th century buildings gave way to modern construction.

In October 2014, newspapering returned to this Royal Street block. The Press Register moved to new offices in the renovated historic Kress building at 18 S. Royal Street, celebrating with a Mardi Gras-style party that included local seafood, wine, beer, and the sounds of the Excelsior Band.

Mobile Press Register, Alabama Media Group office
in the restored Kress building on Royal Street. In the
background is the restored Van Antwerp building. 

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