The origins of The Star begins with the first edition of The Evening Star published on May 1, 1863.
It was first owned by brothers George and William Henningham but the siblings did not get on and William soon bought his brother’s share in the business.
On February 2, 1864 the worst fire in Dunedin up until then ripped through Stafford and Hope Sts, destroying about 30 properties, including the home of The Evening Star.
The newspaper was re-established in a building nearby but it struggled and in 1869 George Bell bought the paper, merging it with his own newspaper, The Evening Independent.
On October 11, 1928 the newspaper reached a milestone of 20,000 publications.
Later the same year on December 27 the paper announced it was moving into grand new premises on the corner of Stuart and Cumberland St, running a seven-page feature on the history of the newspaper, and proudly claiming, with the exception of ground floor shops and part of the first floor, the entire 4970sq m of space in the new building would be occupied by the Evening Star Company, Ltd.
The The Evening Star ceased publication as a daily paper on November 3, 1979, relaunching the following week as twice weekly community newspaper The Star Midweek and the The Star Weekender.
In early 2002 it became simply the weekly edition The Star, and it continues to serve the community in Dunedin.
