The Tribune in Jackson Co., IN

According to Elizabeth Rebber, on page 144 in "Seymour, A Pictorial History" published in 1991, "The story of the Seymour Daily Tribune is in itself an interesting one.  It began in 1879 when the Seymour Republican was founded by Platter and Sons. Several other newspapers were published during the early history of Seymour but failed to flourish.

By January 1, 1896, the Seymour Daily Republican had grown and on August 9, 1920 purchased the assets of the Seymour Democrat and combined the newspapers into the Seymour Daily Tribune. Before 1920, the Seymour Democrat had been published in the IOOF (Odd Fellows) building at the northeast corner of Third and Chestnut streets (Vehslage Building). The Seymour Republican office was located at 208 (108) West Second Street.

The Seymour Daily Tribune continued operations at 208 West Second Street. Needing more room for newspaper publication, the former Ewing residence at 309 North Chestnut Street was purchased and razed. A modern brick structure was erected and an open house was held at the new facility on August 1, 1951.

Changes in newspaper production made a move to larger quarters a necessity. Late in 1965, the Seymour Daily Tribune managers had the opportunity to sell the property on North Chestnut Street (now Contel*). They bought the property at 1215 East Tipton Street**. The first edition at that location was published on October 31, 1966."

__________

Notes added to the above text: * originally Contel - today, it's now part of Seymour City Hall ** today, this building has been razed and is now a Poynter GM car lot

__________

Poynter GM purchased the building at 1215 E. Tipton Street in September, 2002. The Tribune continued operations in that facility during the construction and remodeling project of their new location at 100 St. Louis Avenue, in the downtown area where the railroad tracks cross. This building had been built in 1950 to house a portion of the Sears retail store. After the store closed in 1983, it had remained mostly vacant except for a few years when it was occupied by an antique mall. The Tribune published its first edition from the St. Louis Street location on March 3, 2003 and it continues operations from this location today.

__________

The Seymour Daily Tribune was privately owned by the publisher and/or family. Freedom Communications, Inc., also a family-owned company but much larger, purchased the newspaper in 1973. Publishers of the newspaper since the name "Tribune" began: Jay C. Smith (Aug 1920 to Jan 1927) John H. Conner (Jan 1927 to Mar 1963) Thomas W. Conner (Mar 1963 to Oct 1973) L. Thurman Gill (Oct 1973 to Aug 1996) Tim Timmons (Aug 1996 to Jul 2002) Richard Davis (Aug 2002 to Present)

__________

Microfilm of historic newspapers from Jackson County can be found at the Indiana State Library. Their inventory can be found at this URL: http://www.in.gov/library/3462.htm

__________