Old printers never die, they just give up the chase
By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com
Back in the mid-1990s, when I first stumbled into the sprawling, confusingly cut-up, two or three - building, monstrosity of the Douglas County News-Press at 319 Perry Street in Castle Rock — and having already spent years in such ink-stained edifices, I felt right at home.
"Although there began to be problems with the old building, it was familiar. We knew where we were. We knew all the building's sounds, its creaks and groans," wrote someone from the paper when we later moved a few blocks West.
"Some of us joked the old building was haunted by one of its first owners, George Kobalt," it was written at the time of the move.
"Kobalt built the building in the 1950s and the newspaper was so much a part of his life, we believed his spirit remained there.
Employees sometimes reported hearing footsteps when working alone. Time will tell if George moved with us," said the former editor of the Douglas County News-Press.
"Although there began to be problems with the old building, it was familiar. We knew where we were. We knew all the building's sounds, its creaks and groans," wrote someone from the paper when we later moved a few blocks West.
"Some of us joked the old building was haunted by one of its first owners, George Kobalt," it was written at the time of the move.
"Kobalt built the building in the 1950s and the newspaper was so much a part of his life, we believed his spirit remained there.
Employees sometimes reported hearing footsteps when working alone. Time will tell if George moved with us," said the former editor of the Douglas County News-Press.
To tell you the truth, it was not hard to imagine that some sort of ghost wandered around the dripping basement (complete with abandoned composing room and discarded Exacto knife arsenal, pica poles, proportion wheels, and light tables, process cameras, or the old house that at one time served as the accounting department, or up in the expansive attic with its own portion of a separate newspaper morgue.
But George Kobalt was nothing, if not a flexible ghost.
Another paper I later worked for, allowed that his spirit might have relocated, or at least visited the Monument and Palmer Lake areas, sometime after Kobalt began a paper south of his Castle Rock press facility.
George Kobolt ran a photo of himself, and a caption that said, “Don’t shoot this man, if you see him ‘casing the joint’ — It’s Editor Geo. Kobolt, in a light blue 1962 or a green 1963 Chevrolet (Wagon) and he is probably trying to show a merchant how advertising doesn’t cost — It pays!”
Years later, I would listen to ghost stories related of how old Geo. could be heard rattling around sometimes at night at what once was the reinforced basement of the former printing plant at 319 Perry Street in Castle Rock. The stories were most frequently focused on the area that was once under the presses known as the ‘morgue’ because it was where so many of the dead papers went.
“To answer the questions that arose from my visit to the Palmer Lake-Monument Post Offices last Friday morning, and advertising calls made Monday by our Bob Shchultz — We are concerned about the success of the new paper,” Kobolt wrote.
“Because the Columbine Herald didn’t make it, and another paper is having its troubles. Yes, I am familiar with both instances for we printed for another gentleman, the Columbine Herald. In those days, we were platen press printers and in my estimation, no newspapers could be printed economically in small quantities with that method. So, I held off until we purchased our present lithographic press.”
Kobolt was proud of the new equipment, and at the same time cautious and distant, about a competitive product sometimes printed in the Tri-Lakes market at the time.
“It is the largest press of its type between Denver and Colorado Springs — even Littleton. The other paper we print when it is brought to us to print. We are the only commercial printers for it, not editors or business managers — wonderful people endeavoring to put it out for the area.”
He answered a question about affiliations with other nearby papers at the time. “Are you Geo. Kobolt, connected in any way with either of the Colorado Springs papers?”
“No. I am a printer. Independent as a married man can be, with a 24-year-old married daughter and a 16-year-old son. I have no connections with the papers there — I’m just a little ‘feller’ competing in a world of tycoons,” he answered and expounded upon the things his new paper was not trying to do.
“You will see ads from here and there. That is the choice of the businessmen to make. Please, do not take it as an indication that editor Geo. is trying to change your buying practices — Buy at home.
He noted the presence then of such fine establishments as Higby Mercantile, Glenside Store, McCall Mercantile, Churches including Little Log Church, St. Peter Catholic, Monument Community Presbyterian and others.
In closing, Geo. Kobolt had this to say about the new paper 50 years ago.
“This little Palmer Lake-Monument News is not out to cover the world — just the area of our local interest.”
The Palmer Lake - Monument News maintained that strategy for those 50 years and eventually became, over time and different editors and publishers, the Tri-Lake Tribune. I served for years as publisher, at three different stretches myself.
“Howdy and good morning,” wrote George Kobalt himself , probably with an old 7200 Copugraphic head writer and it stretched across the top of the page for the Palmer Lake - Monument News for the Jan. 15, 1965 edition of the paper. It was the second issue.
George Kobolt ran a photo of himself, and a caption that said, “Don’t shoot this man, if you see him ‘casing the joint’ — It’s Editor Geo. Kobolt, in a light blue 1962 or a green 1963 Chevrolet (Wagon) and he is probably trying to show a merchant how advertising doesn’t cost — It pays!”
Years later, I would listen to ghost stories related of how old Geo. could be heard rattling around sometimes at night at what once was the reinforced basement of the former printing plant at 319 Perry Street in Castle Rock. The stories were most frequently focused on the area that was once under the presses known as the ‘morgue’ because it was where so many of the dead papers went.
“To answer the questions that arose from my visit to the Palmer Lake-Monument Post Offices last Friday morning, and advertising calls made Monday by our Bob Shchultz — We are concerned about the success of the new paper,” Kobolt wrote.
“Because the Columbine Herald didn’t make it, and another paper is having its troubles. Yes, I am familiar with both instances for we printed for another gentleman, the Columbine Herald. In those days, we were platen press printers and in my estimation, no newspapers could be printed economically in small quantities with that method. So, I held off until we purchased our present lithographic press.”
Kobolt was proud of the new equipment, and at the same time cautious and distant, about a competitive product sometimes printed in the Tri-Lakes market at the time.
“It is the largest press of its type between Denver and Colorado Springs — even Littleton. The other paper we print when it is brought to us to print. We are the only commercial printers for it, not editors or business managers — wonderful people endeavoring to put it out for the area.”
He answered a question about affiliations with other nearby papers at the time. “Are you Geo. Kobolt, connected in any way with either of the Colorado Springs papers?”
“No. I am a printer. Independent as a married man can be, with a 24-year-old married daughter and a 16-year-old son. I have no connections with the papers there — I’m just a little ‘feller’ competing in a world of tycoons,” he answered and expounded upon the things his new paper was not trying to do.
“You will see ads from here and there. That is the choice of the businessmen to make. Please, do not take it as an indication that editor Geo. is trying to change your buying practices — Buy at home.
He noted the presence then of such fine establishments as Higby Mercantile, Glenside Store, McCall Mercantile, Churches including Little Log Church, St. Peter Catholic, Monument Community Presbyterian and others.
In closing, Geo. Kobolt had this to say about the new paper 50 years ago.
“This little Palmer Lake-Monument News is not out to cover the world — just the area of our local interest.”
The Palmer Lake - Monument News maintained that strategy for those 50 years and eventually became, over time and different editors and publishers, the Tri-Lake Tribune. I served for years as publisher, at three different stretches myself.
But it was always noted in print, and otherwise, that George Kobalt was happy to be located in the buildings, and in the spirit of newspapers at his favorite haunts. Perhaps, the old, ink-stained buildings and labyrinth passages makes it hard for such ghosts to abandon the Linotype, or other Compugraphic keyboards, and light tables, and just go home.
