On September 18, 1963, the first edition of the Calaveras Enterprise was published. Its first editor was Jack E. Kemp.[1] The owner and first publisher was patent attorney Oscar A. Mellin.[2] In 1967, the paper entered talks to merge with the Amador Dispatch but a deal never materialized.[3]
In 1973, a judge cited the Enterprise for contempt of court for an editorial Mellin wrote suggesting the local court was a "Kangaroo court" after the judge ordered a dog seized for trespassing on his property and brought charges against the owner. The case garnered national attention as it was seen as a battle over the First Amendment.[4][5]
In 1980, lawyer Harold "Hal" J. Truett, who helped establish the Marin County Public Defender's office, retired and joined his father-in-law in running the Enterprise.[6][7] Mellin died a year later.[2]
In 1998, the paper was acquired from Hal and Lois Truett by Calaveras First Corp., a group headed by San Francisco attorney Ralph Alldredge. Co-owner Darrell Philips, formerly of the Manteca Bulletin, was named publisher. At that time the Enterprise was twice-weekly and had a circulation of 5,000.[8]
Alldredge became co-owner of Tank Town Media, which purchased the Tracy Press in 2012.[9] Bruce Kyse was hired as publisher in 2015.[10] At some point Alldredge was elected president of the California News Publishers Association. He died in October 2022.[11] That December, Corissa Davidson, the Enterprise's general manager, bought the paper.[12]