New York City annexed the Bronx. Patents were issued for the iconic blue jeans and incandescent lights. Herbert Hoover, Gertrude Stein and Winston Churchill were born. Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the USA, has died. Eads Bridge, the world’s first large-scale steel span, opened in St. Louis. The California State Capitol completed construction.
Among these notable milestones in 1874 came another near and dear to all of us at ENR. It was the year George H. Frost founded Engineer & Surveyor. The following year, the magazine’s name was changed to Engineering News, and in 1911, it was sold to Hill Publishing Co.
Meanwhile, Henry C. Meyer founded The Plumber and Sanitary Engineer in December 1877. After several name changes, in 1890 the magazine became the Engineering Record. In 1901 Meyer sold the magazine to James H. McGraw and the McGraw Publishing Co.
In 1917, following the merger of the McGraw and Hill Publishing companies, the two publications were unified as the Engineering News-Record on April 5 of that year.
Should historical markers such as a 150th anniversary resonate beyond the confines of an organization’s office walls? We often hear from readers that ENR is the “Bible” of the construction industry. It is undoubtedly our long-term historical perspective that encourages this comparison. But also common to the last century and a half of journalism is ENR’s dedication to accurately reporting and analyzing what readers need to know about the key issues affecting their work.
ENR has constantly evolved over the years to deliver industry coverage, products and platforms in formats that best suit the needs of everyone working in the AEC community. Today, ENR reaches readers through a print and digital magazine, a robust website with hundreds of articles, videos and podcasts published monthly, 22 digital newsletters, about 50 webinars produced annually, 19 face-to-face conferences, and award programs, along with a digital program. construction cost underwriting service. ENR’s ecosystem also includes 10 regional US websites, as well as regional print and digital magazines.
The future is never as far off as it seems, so we’re making changes to be ready. To provide more digital content, we are adjusting our print schedule to 20 issues in 2024, plus 48 regional print editions. Additionally, we are repackaging our global contractors, designers, owners and sourcebooks into four exclusive digital editions of Top Rankings Review+.
In this issue and throughout the year, we invite you to look back at some of the biggest news stories of the past (see p. 21) and ask yourself what has changed and what hasn’t? In this endeavor, we can learn by examining the threads of history together.
For those who want to dig deeper, there is a free, high-quality digital archive of all ENR content from our founding in 1874 to 1922 by HathiTrust, a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content of research libraries. Visit the archive at catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000495103.
