32 Commercial St. Suite 2, Honesdale, PA 18431
the independent building
Didn't we hear this name before?
Back at the corner of 8th and Court St. I told you that we would hear about the paper again. Well, here we are. Look about halfway up the front of this building above the tattoo and oils & balsamics shop and notice the name embossed in the front of the building. Yes, this was the location of The Wayne Independent in earlier years. The Wayne Independent newspaper occupied the second floor. On Sept. 24, 1907, the interior of the building was destroyed by fire. At that time, the first floor was occupied by the Grand Union Tea Co. (north side), and Mrs. Oscar Frisch’s bakery and lunch rooms; the second floor by Drs. W.T. Butler and Son, dentists and the editorial, business, and composing and press departments of the newspaper. The third floor was used by Freedom Lodge of Odd Fellows and nine other societies: Honesdale Encampment IOOF, Knights of the Maccabees, Junior Order of United Mechanics, Daughters of America, Modern Woodmen, Red Men, Royal Arcanum, Grand Army Post, Heptasophs. The first press used was a Drum cylinder How. In 1882, a new Cottrell drum cylinder Monarch press was put into operation and it was moved to the new Independent home in 1892. In 1908, a two revolution No. 8 Cottrell Eclypse press was used.
On Feb. 12, 1913, The Wayne Independent became the first northeastern Pennsylvania newspaper to print from a roll of newsprint-instead of on flat sheets of paper. An eight-page Goss Comet press was installed in the basement of the 744 Main Street building and this press continued in use until Feb. 9, 1967. That flat bed press continues today to print a weekly newspaper at Elkland, Pa. On Feb. 9, 1967, The Wayne Independent moved to its present location at 220 Eighth Street, where a new building was built by the publisher: The Independent Company, on lots formerly occupied by the Lane and Penwarden families. On Feb. 6, 1908, when the newspaper completed its first 30 years, Editor Haines wrote: “If anyone has kept the 30 volumes of the paper he has the long continued story complete. The one chief mission of every newspaper is to tell people what they want to know. News! News! News! And there are so many nice things besides the news to tell about your people, your town, your county, your state, your nation.” In 1914, Editor Haines formed a corporation, the Independent Company, and sold stock to two others -William J. Hagerty and Alvin Ross Pennell. Each owned approximately one-third of the stock. Pennell became associate editor in 1914. On Aug. 19, 1916, Mr. Haines collapsed while walking across Eleventh Street near his home, and died in the nearby Freund general store (where Stephens Pharmacy is now located). Following the death of B.F. Haines, the Wayne Independent would changes Editors, Publishers and Owners multiple times to present day. Most notably would be W.J. Hagerty who began as an apprentice in 1901 to editor from 1938 until he died in 1960.
Following the death of Mr. Hagerty, Clifford S. Ammerman and family would manage the newspaper for several decades until it was sold to J.W. Johnson. Johnson would then sell the newspaper to Park Communications in the late 1980’s. Park transferred ownership to American Publishing in the 1990’s. American Publishing then sold the newspaper to Liberty Group Publishing. Following Liberty Group, the newspaper became a legacy paper of its’ present owner GateHouse Media, Inc. Michelle Fleece, a Wayne County native, has been employed by The Wayne Independent since 1992. She began her newspaper career in advertising and was appointed Publisher in 2009.
Write the name of the oil and balsamic shop located on the first floor on line # 29 of your scavenger hunt entry form, proceed north on the same side of the street, check out the post office murals in the lobby of the post office and click the button below for the next page.
