Uncovering a Historic Gem

I didn’t give the marble-topped table tucked in the back of the True Dakotan much thought during the five years spanning between 2015 (the year I bought the newspaper business and the building that came with it) to 2020 (the year a fire in the basement led to a full building renovation).

But as we put the pieces back together post-fire, the antique piece of furniture, well-used for over 100 years, began to pique my interest. I learned that it is a work table, topped by a heavy, imposing stone, and was used in typesetting. Pages or columns of type were imposed on the smooth, flat surface. The thought of pressmen and newspaper folks from the early 1900s using this tool to lay out type in this very building struck a chord with this present-day editor publisher. I couldn’t get it out of my head: this piece of history needed to be restored to its former beauty and put on display. Not quite sure about how to go about refurbishing the more than a century-old piece of furniture, I began to ask around.

That’s when Wessington Springs couple Don and April Grubb suggested Pheasantland Industries Carpentry Shop. Inmates at the South Dakota State Penitentiary are employed by Pheasantland Industries which houses a braille shop and provides a wide variety of services including carpentry, garment making and mending, license plates, metal fabrication, laser engraving, sign manufacturing and upholstery. They provide low cost products and services to South Dakota state agencies, federal agencies, nonprofits and state employees.

April, a retired state employee, said she could help connect me with the organization to see if they would take on the project. I wrote an email to the director of Pheasantland Industries outlining the historic importance of the table, sending photos and explaining that, according to former newspaper owner and local historian Duke Wenzel, the table has been inside the building since it was built in 1915. In fact, a photo from the 1920s that hung on the wall during the Wenzel’s 40 year True Dakotan legacy and continues to be displayed in the office today, shows a pressman of that era standing near the table, proudly posing for a photo at his place of work.

Thankfully, they agreed to take on the project. Now we just had to get it loaded up into the back of Don and April’s pickup truck — something we discovered was more of a feat than previously imagined.

Common with these types of tables, the frame was sturdy and made of oak and the massive slab of smooth marble that topped the frame weighed hundreds of pounds.

Thanks to the willingness to help and braun of Craig Shryock’s FFA members, we were able to get the table out the door frame and loaded into the back of the truck.

Anticipation grew as weeks, then months rolled by while Pheasantland Industries worked their magic on the antique. When the call came about three months later, we eagerly awaited its return home to 113 Main Street East.

Once again, muscle, in the form of city employees and summer help was needed and graciously accepted to unload and place the table. Once inside the True Dakotan, we excitedly peeled back layers of cardboard, padding and shrink wrap to discover a breathtaking, fully restored, lovingly rejuvenated printer’s composing table. The once ink-stained marble was clean and buffed to a shine, with the ornate legs of the table sanded and painted a striking deep slate color.

Perched proudly in its newly renovated newspaper/print shop, that old photo was returned to the marble surface — table and pressman prepared to greet customers and employees for the century to come.