Ribbon Cutting - Pinecrest Historical Village

Description

Pinecrest Historical Village is proud to bring to life a piece of our local history with the addition of a print shop at the site. Located inside the former Gift Shop building, the Print Shop will become a hands-on learning tool for visitors to discover how type was transformed into newspapers, books, advertising, and more.

The shop includes a Chandler and Price hand-fed press and a smaller Kelsey and Company Press, perfect for public notices and personal correspondence.  Printers owe much credit to J. Edward Hamilton of Two Rivers.  He founded the original Hamilton factory, called J.E. Hamilton Holly Wood Type Company.  It all started when Lyman Nash, Editor of the Two Rivers Chronicle, needed large decorative type to print posters for a Grand Ball at Turner Hall. With no time to order new type from Chicago, he asked Hamilton if he could make the type. Hamilton took a sketch of the type that Nash wanted and cut the type on his foot-powered scroll saw on his mother's back porch, and mounted the letters on another block of wood. Then he sand papered and polished the surface. It printed so well that Hamilton made up a few samples and sent them to nearby printers – and the rest is history!