Charles Edward Trombley and The Peninsula Gateway

Gateway press

Gateway office

C.E. Trombley

Charles Edward Trombley was born in Hemlock, Michigan. He was married in 1902 and in 1904 he and his wife moved to Jamaica, Iowa where it appears he started his newspaper career. He moved his family again in 1907 to Tillamook, Oregon, where he owned and operated a newspaper. 

In August 1923, Trombley moved with his wife and three children to Gig Harbor where he purchased the Bay Island News. The Deed of Sale of the newspaper was signed by F.S. Drummond, Gig Harbor Printing Company, by C.O. Austin, and J.B. Fuller. As you will see he made an excellent decision in buying this paper.

The Bay Island News was started in May 1917 as a weekly paper by Ira Case, Editor/Owner and Homer S. Mohr, Assistant Editor and was published in Burton, Washington. 

Their mission statement read: “The paper will be purely local, its policy will be to build up, never tear down. It will aim to cover the field without partiality. We will have no favorites insofar as locations may be concerned. Each community will be largely depended upon to build up its local columns; we want the news, all of it. With this and your individual cooperation our mission will be mutually successful.”  

“We want 500 partners in this newspaper enterprise at once.  One dollar pays your subscription for a whole year.”

By March, 1922, the Bay Island News was including columns representing news from the communities of Burley, Midway, Glencove, Wauna, Purdy, Shore Acres, Warren, Fox Island, and Longbranch.

Trombley changed the name of the newspaper to The Peninsula Gateway and published it for 30 years until his death in October, 1953.