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Private company

Cowles Company

American media company

The Cowles Company is an American diversified media company based in Spokane, Washington. The company owns and operates The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, founded in 1894, and owned the Spokane Daily Chronicle until it was shut down in 1992. Built by William H. Cowles, the publishing business eventually constructed striking buildings in downtown Spokane for both papers.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1894Founded1
  • Industrypublishing1
  • HeadquartersSpokane1
  • Legal formProfit Corporation3
  • LEI549300HYBD5B5JBOL4293
  • StatusActive3
  • LEI statusLapsed (not renewed)3
  • Registered addressC/O CITIZENS REALTY COMPANY, 99201 Spokane, United States3
  • Registered withCorporations Division (Office of the Secretary of State), 328 000 3053

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The Cowles Company is an American diversified media company based in Spokane, Washington. The company owns and operates The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, founded in 1894, and owned the Spokane Daily Chronicle until it was shut down in 1992. Built by William H. Cowles, the publishing business eventually constructed striking buildings in downtown Spokane for both papers. The Chronicle Building was eventually converted into offices and then residential. The company also owned several other papers and operates Inland Empire Paper Company, television stations, and interests in real estate, insurance, marketing and financial services.2

Corporate structure

Cowles Company sits at the top of its group. 2 entities, 1 country on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Cowles Company Spokane, Washington, United States
    • CPI - 1031 HOLDINGS, LLC Subsidiary · Spokane, Washington, United States

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

William H. Cowles came to Spokane at age 24 to be the business manager of the Spokesman, which was founded less than two years before, and excelled at local news coverage. He had experience as a police reporter for the Chicago Tribune and was the son of the Tribune's treasurer, Alfred Cowles Sr. He soon bought the Spokesman from his partners. In 1893, he bought a rival paper, the Review, and merged the two papers into The Spokesman-Review. He acquired the Spokane Chronicle in 1897.

According to Time in 1952, he was a "determined man" who had an artificial leg yet walked two miles to the office each day.

Cowles set the Chronicle on a course to be independent, and The Spokesman-Review to support Republican Party causes. Time magazine related the paper's success gaining lowered rates for freight carried to the Northwest United States and an improved park system and that helped the region. Increasing its reputation for comprehensive local news and by opposing "gambling, liquor and prostitution", The Spokesman-Review gained popularity. The paper's opposition to building the Grand Coulee Dam was not quite so universally applauded and when it opposed the New Deal and the Fair Deal, it so disturbed President of the United States Harry Truman that he declared the Spokesman-Review to be one of the "two worst" newspapers in the United States. The Scripps League's Press closed in 1939, making Cowles the only newspaper publisher in Spokane. Cowles created four weeklies, the Idaho Farmer, Washington Farmer, Oregon Farmer and Utah Farmer. Cowles died in 1946. When William H. Cowles Jr. succeeded his father as publisher, James Bracken received much more news and editorial control as managing editor. William H. Cowles III succeed his father as publisher.

The original Review Building, designed by Seaton & Ferris in 1891 in a style closest to Richardson Romanesque, is seven stories with a tower that reaches 146 feet (45 m). In 1975, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

From Wikipedia’s article on Cowles Company, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Timeline

  1. 1894Founded Founded1

Sources

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