Joseph Pulitzer Buys St. Louis Dispatch

On December 9, 1878, Joseph Pulitzer buys the St. Louis Dispatch for $2,500. Pulitzer arrived in the city penniless as a teen, and he took jobs such as waiter and reporter. After becoming disillusioned with politics, all before the age of 30, Pulitzer bought the newspaper at a sheriff’s sale, then immediately merged it with the St. Louis Post, to create the Post-Dispatch. Based upon content from the book Missouri 365: This Day in Missouri History by John W. Brown, broadcaster and Missouri historian. Get your copy at Reedy Press. Image by Missouri History Museum licensed under the public domain