Built in 1902 by Frank Hilton Greer, this building housed the
first newspaper in Oklahoma Territory and the largest printing
plant west of the Mississippi.
The paper actually began in Kansas before the Run and came
to Guthrie with the opening. It soon outgrew its tent. A wooden
structure, soon replaced by brick, was erected on this lot.
After a fire Easter Sunday, 1902, this building was erected with
help of popular subscriptions in the amount of $50,000.
Greer developed a politically powerful newspaper with the largest
circulation in the Territory aided by installation of the first
Linotype in Oklahoma. He embarked upon a campaign of scathing
criticism of Gov. Haskell, first state Governor. Haskell enraged,
threatened to "see grass grow in the streets of Guthrie" if
Greer were not silenced. Greer would not be budged and,
largely through Haskell's efforts, the 1910 referendum moved the
capital to Oklahoma City.
As a Bicentennial Project, the building was given in 1975 to
the Oklahoma Historical Society for a printing museum. The
building is a Joseph Foucart design and is a National Register
Site. On February 17, 1972, the Oklahoma Press Association
officially endorsed the Printing Museum as a project.
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