Napa Valley Register


The Napa Valley Register is a daily newspaper located in Napa, California. The paper began publication on August 10, 1863. By 1864, the newspaper had dropped “Valley” from its name, becoming simply the Napa Register until returning to the original name over a century later. Covering a community more known for its wheat crop than wine grapes, the early Register would be unrecognizable to modern readers. A forum for gossip, tall-tales, opinion, moral instruction, aphorisms, propaganda, entertainment and, sporadically, hard news, the Register was one of the top two newspapers of early Napa.
The Register moved to daily publication in 1872 and George M. Francis became sole owner of the Register in 1878 upon the death of his business partner. Francis was succeeded in ownership by his son George H. Francis in 1932.
The paper remained with Francis and various partners until 1958, when it was sold to Scripps League, a small family chain.
The current editor is Sean Scully. The Napa Valley Register is published by Napa Valley Publishing, which also publishes the St. Helena Star, The Weekly Calistogan, and American Canyon Eagle and operates the website .
The paper was formerly owned by Scripps League Newspapers, which was acquired by Pulitzer in 1996; Lee Enterprises acquired Pulitzer in 2005.