The Oakes Times Archive

Oakes is a Northern Pacific Railroad (NPRR) townsite that was founded in 1886 and named for Thomas Fletcher Oakes, then General Manager of the NPRR, and its President from 1888-1893.

The first newspaper in the area began in 1883 as the Port Emma Times. The Jim River Journal sold its list to the Port Emma Times in 1885, and the Times moved to Ludden during its boom in 1886 and took on the name the Ludden Times. In 1890, the owners of the Times, C.S. Brown and W.H. Ellis, moved to Oakes, where the Oakes Weekly Republican was born. Ellis and Brown sold their interest in the Republican in 1898 to Ed A. Smith. Smith dropped "weekly" from the title at this time.

Around 1900, Republican editor Ed Smith declared, "The citizens of Oakes are noted for their liberality. They have always spent their money freely whether it was to get a railroad, promote a county fair, coursing meet, horse races or a sugar beet factory. And, as a result Oakes is the best advertised city of its size in the state. The balance of the state may poke a little fun at Oakes for spending a little money on a sugar beet deal, but it would be better grace to give us credit for trying to develop the state at our own expense."

In 1901, the Oakes Republican purchased the Oakes Independent, and in 1902 the paper was sold to F.S. Goddard and Alex R. Wright, then owners of the Ellendale Leader. In 1903, that partnership dissolved, Goddard taking the Leader and Wright the Oakes Republican. Mr. Wright ran the paper from 1903 to 1919, changing the name to the Oakes Times in 1906. Wright explains the name change on page four of the January 25, 1906, edition. He writes, "The name we like better, as it balances better with the name of our city. The word 'Republican' always looked to us a little top-heavy." The subscription price at the time of the name change was $1.50 per year.

In 1919, Wright sold the paper to Roy A. Bast and Edward F. Bassingwaite. Bast passed away in 1924, leaving Bassingwaite in complete control until Harry C. Edblom became co-publisher and half owner in 1928. This partnership flourished until the death of Edblom in the spring of 1961. Bassingwaite again purchased full interest in the Times but passed away the next winter in February 1962.