Banker & Tradesman is marking its 150th anniversary this year.
First published in 1872, the newspaper began as a collation of real estate transactions recorded in registries of deeds across Massachusetts and later began offering real estate news to its readers.
The paper’s current owners, the Warren family, have owned the publication since 1902. Their purchase followed a multi-year rivalry between the paper’s then-publishers and an upstart trade publication, The Banker, started by Willard C. Warren, who was then the publisher of the New Haven, Connecticut-based Commercial Record newspaper.
Since the late 1980s, The Warren Group has published Banker & Tradesman and turned its real estate records database into a range of data products widely used by the real estate, banking, construction and related industries across Massachusetts. The company expanded its footprint beyond New England in 2019 and now offers data products across the country. It is also the publisher of The Commercial Record (Connecticut) and The Registry Review (New Hampshire).
“For any business, staying relevant and viable for 150 years is a remarkable achievement. Add family ownership of the business for five generations and it becomes a rare achievement,” Banker & Tradesman publisher Tim Warren said. “My great-grandfather had one hell of a good idea!”
A gala celebration is expected to be held this fall, pandemic permitting. Special coverage is planned throughout the year in honor of its anniversary, including a weekly feature highlighting the banking and real estate industries’ contributions to Massachusetts history and interviews with longtime industry figures.
