The Mendocino Beacon is a weekly newspaper

Weekly newspaper

A weekly newspaper is a general-news publication that is published on newsprint once or twice a week.Such newspapers tend to have smaller circulations than daily newspapers, and are usually based in less-populous communities or small, defined areas within large cities; often, they may cover a...

 for the community of Mendocino, California

Mendocino, California

Mendocino is a census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States. Mendocino is located south of Fort Bragg, at an elevation of 154 feet...

, owned by MediaNews Group

MediaNews Group

MediaNews Group, based in Denver, Colorado, is one of the largest newspaper companies in the United States. It is privately owned and operates 56 daily newspapers in 12 states, with combined daily and Sunday circulation of approximately 2.4 million and 2.7 million, respectively...

.

The Mendocino Beacon was founded on October 6, 1877 by W. H. Meacham and William Heeser

William Heeser

William Heeser was a German-American newspaper publisher and banker in Mendocino County, California....

, an immigrant from Germany who also founded the Fort Bragg Advocate-News and three other local newspapers in Kibesillah

Kibesillah, California

Kibesillah is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California. It is located south of Westport, at an elevation of 138 feet .A post office operated at Kibesillah from 1874 to 1889....

, Rockport

Rockport, California

Rockport is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California. It is located north-northwest of Westport, at an elevation of 30 feet ....

, and Westport

Westport, California

Westport is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California. It is located on the Pacific Ocean north of Fort Bragg, at an elevation of 125 feet ....

. It succeeded the Star, a local newspaper that had been founded previously by M. J. C. Galvin. In an 1878 catalog of North American newspapers the Beacon was advertised as "an independent and vigorous weekly journal, published at a point of rising importance as a place of shipping and trade." From 1975 to 1977 it was published under an alternative name, the Mendocino Coast Beacon.

In the 2009 California Newspaper Publishers Association

California Newspaper Publishers Association

The California Newspaper Publishers Association is a nonprofit trade association founded in 1888 that represents the daily and weekly newspapers of California. Its diverse membership consists of over 500 newspapers that elect 35 individuals to its governing board of directors...

's "Better Newspaper Contest", the Mendocino Beacon won first place in its circulation category for a business/financial story, for a story on Heritage House by Frank Hartzell. It has also won similar awards in previous years.

In 2000, the newspaper offices moved from Mendocino to Fort Bragg

Fort Bragg, California

Fort Bragg is a city located in coastal Mendocino County, California along State Route 1, the major north-south highway along the Pacific Coast. Fort Bragg is located west of Willits, at an elevation of 85 feet...

, ten miles north of Mendocino, and consolidated with the offices of the Fort Bragg Advocate-News.