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.
Bartholomew Dowling
In March 1858, P. J. Thomas, an enterprising publisher and one of the founders of the "San Francisco Monitor", induced Dowling to quit the seclusion of Crucita Valley in Contra Costa County and move to San Francisco and work on that newspaper. Dowling became editor of the "San Francisco Monitor", at a time when he was in poor health. However, he continued his writing, which "displayed a vigor and versatility that gave evidence of what he was capable of accomplishing under more favorable circumstances".
Dowling's death on November 20, 1863 resulted from his being thrown from a buggy and having his leg broken. His health previous to this shock had been declining, and he died in St. Mary's Hospital of San Francisco.