It was born of the strife of the Civil War.
For decades, it was a trusted friend waiting for tens of thousands of factory workers when they quit work in the afternoon.
At its end, it had all but lost its own identity.
For generations of Rhode Islanders, The Evening Bulletin was their newspaper, not The Providence Journal. But that all came to an end on June 2, 1995.
In the 1950s, as more Rhode Islanders worked 9-to-5 jobs, a morning paper fit their lifestyle better. And the fledgling medium of television, with its suppertime newscasts, challenged the evening paper for readers.
Throughout the 1980s, The Journal and The Bulletin slowly started looking like the same paper. The Bulletin carried fewer and fewer new stories and updates that had not been in that morning's Journal. The papers' staffs, which had been separated by Sevellon Brown in the early 20th century, were gradually merged again.
In the 1990s, the two papers grew even more similar, frequently offering the same stories, perhaps with updates for The Bulletin. Little changed between the morning and evening paper, other than the name at the top.
The last edition of each day was normally labeled "CITY FINAL," but on June 2, 1995, it was emblazoned "FINAL EDITION."
The top story, by retired columnist John Hanlon, was under a banner headline: "The Evening Bulletin: 'So long, old friend.' "
Hanlon recounted bumping into another Bulletin retiree and telling her the paper was approaching its end.
"I never thought I'd live to see the day when there'd be no more Bulletin," she said.
"Neither did I," Hanlon replied.
"But," he wrote in The Bulletin's final column, "time, methods, typewriters and all else change, and something happened to change the Evening Bulletin.
"So all that is left to say, once more, 'So long, old friend. Nice to have been with you. Thanks for the memory.' "
Other Page One stories were by staff writers William J. Donovan and Jeffrey L. Hiday, Maria Miro Johnson, Russell Garland and Paul Edward Parker.
Also on the front page was a note to readers:
"Today marks the last afternoon publication of the Evening Bulletin. Next Monday, you will receive the new Providence Journal-Bulletin which will include a new local news section and a new Rhode Island section. Although the newspaper will be printed in the early morning, many subscribers will continue to receive their papers in the afternoon. During the summer all subscribers will be converted to morning delivery."
But even The Providence Journal-Bulletin, the last vestige of the afternoon paper, would fade.
On July 6, 1998, the name shortened to The Providence Journal, harking back to the origins of the paper in 1829.
