Oklahoma Daily State Capital - Guthrie, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 52.614 W 097° 25.661
14S E 641934 N 3971436
A power struggle affects a newspaper, a town and a state.
Waymark Code: WMA8KM
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 12/03/2010
Views: 9
On the southwest corner of W. Harrison Avenue and S. 2nd Street in downtown Guthrie, stands a three-story brick building, constructed in 1902. This was the location where the Oklahoma Daily State Capital newspaper published from 1902-1911.
On the east side of the building at the curb, an historical marker is erected telling the story. The marker reads:
"Oklahoma Daily State Capital / Built in 1902 by Frank Hilton Greer, this building housed the first newspaper in Oklahoma Territory and the largest printing plant west of the Mississippi. / The paper actually began in Kansas before the Run and came to Guthrie with the opening. It soon outgrew its tent. A wooden structure, soon replaced by brick, was erected on this lot. After a fire Easter Sunday, 1902, this building was erected with help of popular subscriptions in the amount of $50,000. / Greer developed a politically powerful newspaper with the largest circulation in the Territory aided by installation of the first linotype in Oklahoma. He embarked uponn a campaign of scathing criticism of Governor Haskell, first state governor. Haskell was enraged, threatening to "see grass grow in the streets of Guthrie" if Greer were not silenced. Greer would not be budged and, largely through Haskell's efforts, the 1910 referendum moved the capital to Oklahoma City. / As a bicuentennial project, the building was given in 1975 to the Oklahoma Historical Society for a printing museum. The building is a Joseph Foucart design and is a National Register site. On February 17, 1972, the Oklahoma Press Association officially endorsed the Printing Museum as a project. Presented by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation 1980"
The museum is open Thurs-Sat: 9-5 and has many artifacts from those early printing days, including typewriters, linotype machines, and print galleys. The basement has the original press machinery on display.
County: Logan County
Record Address::
301 W. Harrison Avenue
Guthrie, OK US
73044
Web site if available: [Web Link]
Rate the Site: 
Date Erected: 1980
Sponsor (Who put it there): Donald W. Reynolds Foundation
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Visit Instructions:1 - Must visit the site in person.
2 - New Photo required.
3 - Give some new insight to the marker/site.