Relics found in construction point to history of newspapers

PLAINS – As progress continues on the demolition and reconstruction of the office of the Clark Fork Valley Press as well as the Mineral Independent, relics of the company’s past keep coming forward.

Recently, the old building was completely torn down to the foundation. Part of this revealed a number of concrete slabs in the structure’s floor. According to Randy Garrison, historian of Plains, these slabs were used to house the printing presses, when the paper was printed in the property.

The paper was printed in the building until 1978, when it was sent to another location for publication. Garrison recalled the last issue printed in Plains was in October 1978; from then on, the paper was printed in St. Ignatius for a time before going to its current printing site in Kalispell.

The printing site was changed largely for financial reasons. During the late 70’s, the cost of printing on site rose and many companies moved their operations to another location, usually at a bigger paper’s office.

“It got more cost effective to have everything printed in one location,” said Garrison, noting many bigger newspaper companies printed up to a dozen papers with one press.

The Hagadone Corporation, which owns the Valley Press and Mineral Independent, owns several papers in Western Montana, many of which are printed from the Daily Inter Lake offices in Kalispell.

As of Monday, November 30 everything from the old building was gone and a new foundation was being laid. The goal is to have a new building up and have the newspapers moved in shortly after the new year.