In the Lewiston Tribune's first 100 years, the newspaper's homes, production methods, leaders and ownership have changed from era to era.
Following is a digest of some of the newspaper's major moves during its first century, selecting 31 of the years:
1892 Sept. 29. First issue of the weekly Lewiston Tribune. Home No. 1 was Grostein Hall, the town opera house, on the first floor, at Second and Montgomery (now Main Street). Today, it is the campus and parking lot of AIA Insurance corporate headquarters. The Tribune was founded by brothers Albert H. and Eugene L. Alford. Lewiston was based on two prophecies by a Portland printing machinery dealer, the homesteading of Nez Perce Indian land and the start of railroad service at Lewiston.
1893 Still a struggling weekly, the Tribune moved to home No. 2, the second floor of a small brick building on the south side of Main Street between Second
and Third Streets. Building owner L. C. Neal operated a furniture store on the first floor. In 1960, the building was demolished for a new Lewiston YWCA.
1895 To home No. 3, the second floor of the newly constructed Adams Building on the south side of Main Street between Fourth and Fifth Streets. The main floor was occupied until last month by Lewiston Cleaning Works. The second floor, until the late 1970s, was occupied by apartments.
Twice-weekly publication began.
On Nov. 18, a gun boomed on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation and thousands of settlers swarmed to the land to claim 500,000 acres ceded to the federal government for $1,626,222.
1898 To home No. 4, the second floor of Cash Hardware, Fifth and D Streets, now Erb Hardware Co. It was then the eastern edge of the Lewiston business district, which extended from First to Fifth Streets.
The Spanish-American War broke out. As Lewiston's Company B of the Idaho Volunteer Infantry was assembling for service in the Philippine insurrection campaign, reader interest prompted the Tribune's move to daily publication. On May 9, the afternoon Lewiston Daily Tribune began publication. On Oct. 2, it switched to morning publication and its present name, the Lewiston Morning Tribune.
The Tribune purchased a Mergenthaler Linotype linecasting machine, becoming the second newspaper in Idaho to have one. But most type would continue to be handset until early in the 20th century.
The Tribune began receiving the Associated Press news report by Morse code.
1902 The Tribune owners were sufficiently established to construct their own building. Pioneer Lewiston contractor Harry Madgvick constructed the building at 0213 Fourth St., today a parking lot for Bollinger Plaza. It was a 50-by-100-foot brick structure with a full basement. It would be the Tribune's home for the next 59 years. The lot was first owned by Wesley Mulkey, a Clearwater River ferryman of the early 1860s. The Tribune purchased the property from sisters Anna and Mary Hayes on Feb. 14, 1902.
1909 On Dec. 3, the Tribune building was seriously damaged by fire that started in the basement pressroom. The building was repaired, but it nearly put the 17-year-old newspaper out of business. Publication was suspended for one week, the only interruption in its first 100 years of publication. The earliest copies of the Tribune were destroyed.
The Lewiston Teller, the weekly newspaper that was competition to the Tribune when it was started in 1892 and preceded by six other unsuccessful newspapers, ceased publication. (Another competitor would be the Gem State Banner, founded in 1912 and later with the name of the Lewiston Banner. In 1932 it was merged with the Culdesac Enterprise and published under the name of the Lewiston News, and was discontinued Oct. 1, 1937.)
1919 The Tribune building was doubled in size with the addition of a south wing constructed by William D. Lundstrum. Later, the lot to the building's north was acquired for off-street parking for Tribune customers and employees. In earlier days, the lot had been the site of a blacksmith shop operated by Patrick Barton.
In the 1920s An automatic Associated Press Teletype machine replaced the Morse operator.
1922 George M. Alford, who came from Texas in 1902 to join his two brothers, died. He was in charge of the commercial printing bindery department.
1926 The Tribune installed stereotype equipment and a $30,000 Duplex tubular press, which would produce the newspaper each morning for the next 34 years. The Tribune's 1892 Washington hand press had been replaced by powered equipment in the mid-1890s.
1927 Tribune co-founder Albert H. Alford, who had built a reputation as one of the keenest editors in the Northwest, died. He was also a former Nez Perce County legislator and speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives.
1928 A.L. (Bud) Alford, within weeks of graduating from Washington & Lee University at Lexington, Va., was recalled to the Tribune to become managing editor. He would serve in that position for the next 18 years.
In the 1940s During World War II, newsprint was scarce and rationed, forcing the Tribune and other newspapers to print smaller editions. Often, the Tribune was able to secure sufficient newsprint only by purchasing railroad cars of logs from Potlatch Forests Inc., and trade the raw logs for finished newsprint from Inland Empire Paper Co. at Millwood, Wash., in the Spokane Valley.
1946 Co-founder Eugene L. Alford, business manager from 1892 and later assuming the title of publisher, died. He was succeeded by his son, managing editor A.L. (Bud) Alford, as editor and publisher.
1948 The Tribune began receiving both the day and night news reports of the Associated Press.
1959 Negotiations were consummated for the Tribune's purchase of the former Gray-Webb Buick Co. garage at Fifth and C Streets, built in 1948 and occupied until 1957. Three adjoining 50-by-100-foot lots to the east were also purchased. The lot east of the garage building was the site of the Buck Eye Mao joss house, a shrine of worship for many years for Chinese residents of the community.
The joss house was torn down in December and the lot was traded for property and a house at 523 C St. Two lots adjoining the joss house were purchased from Hahn Plumbing & Heating Supply Co. Remodeling and expansion of the Gray-Webb garage into a modern newspaper plant began in December and was completed a year later. General contractor was Gus Larkin of Lewiston. Architect was Hugh Richardson of Lewiston.
1960 On Nov. 21, the move to the new 505 C St. building was initiated with removal of heavy presses from the commercial printing department at 0213 Fourth St.
1961 The move was completed in January to home No. 6 at 505 C St. The old Fourth Street building's newsroom was cleared at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14. At 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 15, the first story came in to the new newsroom. It dealt with an election of officers and cheerleaders at Lewiston's St. Stanislaus School.
In mid-February, installation of the building's new press, a 28-page Goss Unitube letter press, was completed. It ended a one-month transport of page mats containing impressions of each page to be cast into cylindrical plates at the old building, then fitted onto the old press for printing of the paper. The 1926 Duplex press was sold to a Sausalito, Calif., newspaper.
1967 Tribune Publishing Co. purchased 40 per cent of the stock of News-Review Publishing Co., Moscow, publishers of the Daily Idahonian. In later years, the Tribune would purchase majority stock.
1968 The Tribune's second publisher, A.L. (Bud) Alford, son of co-founder Eugene L. Alford, died on July 20. He was succeeded by his son, A.L. (Butch) Alford, as editor and publisher.
1972 It was a step forward for Tribune employees: The Tribune purchased four lots, west across Fifth Street from the Tribune building, for off-street parking. The property was sold by Kirk and Betty McGregor of Lewiston.
1973 In November, the Tribune made a transition from 81 years of hot metal production to a modern cold-type process in its composing room, using Photon Mark II linecasting. The 1961 Goss Unitube letterpress was retained, however, with NAPP plastic plates replacing the old stereotype plates.
1978 A new Goss Urbanite offset press was installed, vastly improving reproduction of the Tribune newspaper. The 1961 Goss Unitube press was sold to a South America newspaper. The new offset press completed a five-year transition to a modern cold-type reproduction process. The first offset section printed was the Business section of the Sunday, Dec. 28, Tribune. The following month, after training was completed, the full newspaper was printed on the new press.
1979 The Tribune's web commercial printing division was inaugurated, using the newspaper press for printing of advertising supplements for Northwest businesses, in September.
In November, the Tribune started its newsprint recycling program, collecting waste newsprint, bundling it, and sending it to California for de-inking and manufacturing of recycled paper. (In 1992, the recycling program included 14 Lewiston-Clarkston valley and Moscow drop sites for return of newsprint, with most old paper being shipped to Spokane and used by Inland Empire Paper Co. at Millwood, Wa.)
Alice C. Alford, widow of co-founder Eugene L. Alford, died. She was majority owner of Tribune Publishing Co. and corporate secretary. She was the first white child born at Dayton, Wash.
1980 The Zinn sheet-metal warehouse and property, east of the Tribune building, was purchased, insuring that the newspaper would have expansion room in future years, and additional warehouse space. It was purchased from Robert Zinn of Lewiston.
1981 The Kearns-Tribune Corp. of Salt Lake, Utah, purchased 60 per cent of the stock of Tribune Publishing Co., publishers of the Lewiston Tribune, in January. Two Alford family members, Mrs. Charles H. and A. L. Alford Jr., retained ownership of 40 per cent of the stock.
1983 The Associated Press installed a satellite dish on the Tribune's roof, the start of a new receipt of the 24-hour news reports.
In July, the Tribune purchased the half-block of property south across C Street from the Tribune building. It would be developed into Tribune Plaza parking. The land was purchased from Robert Zinn of Lewiston. It had been the site of the Zinn family's Lewiston Plumbing & Heating, which was not rebuilt after a fire. The southern portion of the property, adjoining D Street, was in earlier years the home of Hahn Supply Co., and the site of Lewiston's first Catholic church.
On Dec. 31, the Tribune news and classified advertising departments ended the general use of typewriters. An electronic production system was installed. The Hastech system enabled the original keystrokes to be retained with computer storage of news and advertisements. The Tribune became one of a few newspapers to have electronic page make-up, called pagination.
1986 The 20 percent Tribune Publishing Co. stock holding of the Estate of Mrs. Charles H. Alford was purchased by Kearns-Tribune Corp.
1989 In December, the Tribune began use of a NewsView electronic library system, ending clip-and-paste library storage of news articles. The computer software system was developed by the Tribune's new division, Tribune Solutions. In 1992, the system had been purchased by 27 others.
1991 PhotoView, an electronic photo archiving system developed by the Tribune's Tribune Solutions division, was put into use at the newspaper, along with the Associated Press' new Leaf editing desk, in December. The Tribune became the first newspaper in the world to use a PC-based photo archving system. In 1992, six newspapers have PhotoViews.
A ''new'' redesigned Tribune was unveiled, utilizing an abundance of full-color pictures and graphics on a daily basis. It was made possible by purchase of a Howtek color separation system and related equipment.
1992 A three-month celebration marked the Lewiston Tribune's 100th birthday. It culminated with a Sept. 26 dedication of Tribune Centennial mini-park and open house. On Sept. 27, Tribune employees celebrated with a Tribune Family photograph and a picnic at Lewiston's Pioneer Park. The Sunday newspaper included a 44-page Centennial special edition. The newspaper's 100th birthday: Tuesday, Sept. 29.
