William Rand (printer)

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For the athlete, see William Rand (athlete).

William H. Rand (1828 – 1905) was born in Quincy, Massachusetts. As a young man, he was an apprentice at his brother's print shop in Boston. He was enticed west in September, 1849, by the California Gold Rush. He settled in Los Angeles and co-founded the city's first newspaper, the LA Star. In 1856, he returned to Boston for a short time before moving to Chicago and opening a print shop in June of that year. Two years later he hired an Irish immigrant, Andrew McNally, to work in his shop for $9 per week. The two formally established Rand, McNally & Co. in 1868 and became one of the biggest and best-known map publishers in history. Rand retired as president of Rand McNally in 1899.

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