Wilmington Daily Commercial Archive

The Wilmington Daily Commercial was launched on October 1, 1866, as the first daily newspaper published in Delaware. Wilmer Atkinson and Howard Jenkins arrived in Wilmington specifically to found a daily newspaper and established their headquarters near city hall. By installing a steam-powered press, they were able to run large daily editions. Issues of this paper originally listed for sale at 2 cents per day or 12 cents for a weekly subscription. Atkinson and Jenkins also purchased the right to sell the paper on the trains of the Delaware Railroad in order to expand circulation beyond the Wilmington city limits.

Even after expending such efforts, Atkinson and Jenkins soon realized that reaching citizens living in rural areas was difficult with a daily newspaper. They established a weekly edition of the Wilmington Daily Commercial called the Delaware Tribune that was first published on January 3, 1867. Both Atkinson and Jenkins were committed to using the newspaper to address social reform and printed numerous editorials arguing against Delaware's use of the whipping post.

In 1871, the Wilmington Daily Commercial faced competition from William T. Croasdale, a former city editor of the newspaper. Croasdale had founded the Every Evening in that same year, publishing the first issue on September 4. The new challenge placed significant pressure on Atkinson and Jenkins.  On March 31, 1877, the Wilmington Daily Commercial published its last issue before merging with the Every Evening to form the Every Evening and Commercial from April 2, 1877, to March 30, 1878. With the merger, the weekly's title changed from Delaware Tribune to the Delaware Tribune and State Journal. Beginning with the April 1, 1878 issue, the paper was renamed the Every Evening, Wilmington Daily Commercial.