Park Print Shop
The invention of printing changed our world. The mass production of books and other reading materials spread knowledge. Up until 1500, books were all written by hand.
Initially, the printing process type required that each letter be typeset one at a time. It was a slow and labor-intensive process, making books expensive and available only to a few people. In 1850, the linotype was invented. It composed type one line at a time, which sped up the process and made books more affordable to the general public. The first presses were hand-fed and produced one page at a time. Later, presses, still hand-fed, became more mechanical and eventually motorized.
Offset printing was an even faster process in which the paper was automatically fed, either by sheet or large, web-fed rolls, which newspapers commonly use even today. The speed of the linotype allowed newspapers to be printed daily instead of weekly. Today, pages are digitally produced, and the printing process includes full-color photos.
Newspapers were an important means of sharing the news of the week and later, the day. Before 1900, there were seven or eight different weekly newspapers in Rusk County. One could read different newspapers on other days of the week. The Statesman came out on Monday, the Star-Spangled Banner on Wednesday, and the East Texas Times on Friday, to name a few. In November 1880 the Rusk County News began publishing, and the Henderson Daily News, which is still published today, started with the Discovery of Oil edition on October 3, 1930.
The Park Print Shop contains printing equipment used to print newspapers and books. Two platen job presses, a paper cutter, and a folding machine, are just a few items in the building. The shop also displays a working linotype machine, trays of different sizes, and individual letter styles. The presses in the print shop operate during the year at special events such as Folk Art Day and the Heritage Syrup Festival.
After years of working as a linotype operator for newspapers and in printing shops in East Texas, Marcus Park, in 1944, established the Park Printing Company, located at 115 North Jackson for twenty-six years. During his lifetime, Mr. Park collected printing equipment with the dream of establishing a museum. Beginning in 1970, he had been associated with Harris Printing and Stationery Company. When he retired in 1994, he donated his equipment to the Depot Museum, and the Park Print Shop is the result of his dream.