the paper from a circulation of less than 75 with a half column of paid advertising to 672 with "several columns" of paid advertising. In 1868 Benjamin H. Weaver joined the publishing staff and the paper's frequency increased from semi-monthly to weekly; it was also renamed the Weekly Arizona Miner. After Weaver left in 1874, the paper was renamed the Arizona Weekly Miner. Over the next few years the staff changed again, with Thomas J. Butler becoming editor and part-owner in 1875, then selling his interest in 1876. Charles W. Beach thereafter assumed the duties of editor, and Marion sold his interest to Beach in 1877. Under Beach, the paper's political leanings returned to their Republican roots and the name was changed back to the Weekly Arizona Miner. In 1882 Beach planned to sell the paper to Samuel N. Holmes, but Holmes died before the deal was signed. Merger Despite ongoing financial difficulties, Beach continued to publish the newspaper for several more years. In late 1885, John C. Martin, the editor of Prescott's Arizona Weekly Journal, proposed a merger deal. The two papers combined to create the Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner, with Martin as editor. Later history A fire on July 14, 1900, destroyed the publishing office. In response, a temporary daily was published for about a month until regular operations could resume in a small brick building on West Gurley Street. In 1903, the name of the paper was changed yet again to the Weekly Arizona Journal-Miner. In 1904, the paper began using a linotype machine and became a franchise of the Associated Press. In 1908, John W. Milnes purchased the paper and took over as editor; he changed the name to the Weekly Journal-Miner. Milnes retained control of the paper for nearly fifteen years. Needing more space, the publishing office moved to a two-story building at Cortez and Union streets in 1914 with a Goss web-perfecting press. The last proprietors of the paper were Arthur John Doud, publisher, and A. V. Napier, manager, who acquired the publication on July 1, 1929, and operated it until its closure in April 1934. Daily edition From December 1873 to August 1885, a daily edition, the Arizona Daily Miner, was also published. The Arizona Journal, a Republican-leaning paper established in 1883 merged with Daily Miner to become the Prescott Journal-Miner. Mastheads Key people Notes References External links Arizona Miner on the Arizona Memory