San Francisco Chronicle
The "Chronicle" was founded by brothers Charles and M. H. de Young in 1865 as "The Daily Dramatic Chronicle", and inside of 10 years, it had the largest circulation of any newspaper west of the Mississippi River. The paper's first office was in a building at the corner of Bush and Kearney Streets. The brothers then commissioned a building from Burnham and Root at 690 Market Street at the corner of Third and Kearney Streets to be their new headquarters, in what became known as Newspaper Row. The new building, San Francisco's first skyscraper, was completed in 1889. It was damaged in the 1906 earthquake, but it was rebuilt under the direction of William Polk, Burnham's associate in San Francisco. That building, known as the "Old Chronicle Building" or the "DeYoung Building", still stands and was restored in 2007. It is an historic landmark and is the location of the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences.
The Mercury News
The newspaper now known as the "Mercury News" began in 1851 or 1852. California legislators had just moved the state capital from San Jose to Vallejo, leading to the failure of San Jose's first two newspapers, the "Argus" and "State Journal". A group of three businessmen led by John C. Emerson bought the papers' presses to found the "San Jose Weekly Visitor". The "Weekly Visitor" began as a Whig paper but quickly switched its affiliation to the Democratic Party. It was renamed the "Santa Clara Register" in 1852. The following year, F. B. Murdoch took over the paper, merging it into the "San Jose Telegraph". W. A. Slocum assumed control of the "Telegraph" in 1860 and merged it with the "San Jose Mercury" or "Weekly Mercury" to become the "Telegraph and Mercury". William N. Slocum soon dropped "Telegraph" from the name. By this point, the "Mercury" was one of two newspapers publishing in San Jose.