The origins of the company date back to 1933 when Elmo Smith and his wife, Dorothy, borrowed $25 to establish a mimeographed pennysaver in Ontario, Oregon.
[7] Smith became a co-owner of the Albany Democrat-Herald in 1957[8] and purchased the Cottage Grove Sentinel in 1961,[9] but these two papers were held separately from BME.
[12] The new owner set a goal of buying 10 newspapers as a way to cut overall costs through consolidation and to create more opportunities for employees to advance.
[13] A year later the company moved its headquarters in 1970 from Dallas to Salem after a gas leak led to an explosion that destroyed its printing plant.
[3] The company acquired the Independence Enterprise-Herald[3] and the Woodburn Independent in 1971;[14] the Canby Herald in 1972;[15] Goldendale Sentinel in 1974;[3] Polk Sun of Monmouth in 1975;[3] White Salmon Enterprise,[16] Molalla Pioneer and North Willamette News in 1976;[17] and The Dalles Reminder, Sheridan Sun and Lake Oswego Review in 1978.
[3] BME purchased the Polk Sun of Monmouth in 1975 from Frank Parchman, and then merged it with the Independence Enterprise-Herald to form the Sun-Enterprise.
The deal included the Molalla Pioneer and Wilsonville News along with the BME-owned newspapers Canby Herald and Woodburn Independent.
[33][34] Also in 1985, Eagle entered into an agreement with The Guard Publishing Co., which owned The Register-Guard, to manage its five weekly newspapers in Washington County.
[1] In 1987, the Lake Oswego Review (which also published the Lake Oswego Review and West Linn Tidings) was merged into Times Publishing Co. and Eagle obtained part ownership of the new joint venture,[35] which was called Community Newspapers, Inc.[36] The business was sold to Steve Clark in 1996.
[47] A year later Eagle sold the Idaho County Free Press in Grangeville to the paper's publisher Sarah Klement.
[40] Due to the COVID-19 recession in the United States, Eagle Newspapers announced plans to shutter the Hood River News, The Dalles Chronicle and the White Salmon Enterprise.