The first home of the Deseret News was no larger than what today would be a fair-size office for one editor. It had a door, a couple of windows and one room to work in.
Scipio A. Kenner, "Mark Twain," said of the building after a visit that it was "almost as easy to get on top of as into."But back in 1850, the press was smaller than a modern-day refrigerator, and the staff was composed of a typesetter, proofreader, pressman and editor/writer. Back then, though, press time was rated in hours instead of milliseconds.
Since that time, the Deseret News has moved 11 times. This month, the 147-year-old newspaper will make its 12th, back to 30 E. 100 South, this time into a nine-story building.
The first building was called the "Mint." Before the building became a printing office it was a place for minting gold coins. But within one a year, the News had outgrown its offices, which wasn't too difficult to do. One more employee could have done it. In 1852, the Deseret News moved into a three-story adobe building on the northwest corner of South Temple and Main Street, then called the Deseret Store Building. The post office was also located there. Dr. Willard Richards, the first editor, was often heard telling those looking for letters to move away from the printing press.
The paper was printed there through 1854. Its next move was into offices in the old Tithing Office Building, which was on Main Street across from Temple Square.
After two years at this location, the newspaper moved into the Council House, which is believed to be Salt Lake City's first public building. In addition to a printing shop, the building was a legislative hall, church meeting place and public hall.
In 1858, threatened by advancing U.S. Army troops, the News headed south. Part of the printing equipment was sent to Fillmore, then the territorial capital, and part was sent 100 miles farther south to Parowan. While papers were printed in Fillmore, there is no record that any publications came out of Parowan.
With the scare of fighting over, the newspaper returned to Salt Lake City and to the Council House. While the Civil War was raging in the North and South, the newspaper moved back into the old Deseret Store Building, where it remained for more than 40 years until 1903. It was in this building, around 1867, that the Deseret News switched from a weekly to a daily newspaper.
It was also in this building that the newspaper industry made one of its greatest advancements: changing the way type was set from hand-set to linotype machines, which greatly sped up operations. Newspapers stayed with the lead-type machines until the 1970s, when computers began to push out the large machines.
Also during this time the Deseret News went from using hand-drawn artwork to photographs in editorial presentations.
The first building constructed specifically for the newspaper was a six-story brownstone structure - designed at a cost of $100 - on the southwest corner of Main and South Temple, in about the same location as the Council Hall, which had burned years earlier. It was called the Union Pacific Building and later would house Walgreen's store. Eventually it was razed to build the Crossroads Mall.
The newspaper stayed there until 1926, when it moved into a four-story office on Richards Street, across from Temple Square on South Temple, just down from where McDonald's now sits in the Crossroads Plaza.
The street was named after the first editor of the paper, who was buried on the site. His body was later taken to a cemetery, and the Deseret News building was built over what had been his gravesite.
About 23 years after moving into the Richards Street offices, the printing presses were moved in 1952, under a joint agreement with The Salt Lake Tribune, to their current location on Regent Street.
In June of 1968, the editorial offices were moved once again, this time to a remodeled building at 34 E. 100 South. It was at this location the newspaper entered the new computer age, progressing from manual typewriter and linotype machines to electric typewriters and scanners, to computer-generated text and newspaper design.
In 1995, the Deseret News moved into temporary offices across from the printing presses on Regent Street while the new building was constructed.
On May 28, official dedication of the newspaper's newest address, back to 30 E. 100 South, will be held. And the newspaper will move forward into the 21st century in one of the most modern newspapers offices in the country.