I worked for The Boyertown Area Times from 1993 through 1998. That was back when it was owned by Berks-Mont Newspapers Inc. and they published three papers: the weekly paid Boyertown Area Times, the weekly free News of Southern Berks and the free weekly advertising circular The Shopper's Digest.

When I first started at the paper, we used VTC units, which were basically terminals connected to a mainframe. Before I left they switched to Macs. But we still cut and pasted layouts (I don't miss the X-acto knives and wax machine), and we didn't have internet access at our desks.

We did all the layout at the office in Boyertown, but the paper was sent out to be printed. The deadline for us was Tuesday night because early Wednesday they'd pick up the layouts and take them to the printer. The paper was dated Thursday.

When I first started they still had delivery drivers, but then they switched to direct mailing the paper to subscriber's homes.

A funny thing I remember is that the building you see pictured used to be the home of the local Met-Ed office. Right next to the building on the left is a generating station. Well, when the newspaper split from Boyertown Publishing (sometime in the 1970s I think), the paper moved to this building. So, for about 20 years it had been the paper. But in the 1990s while I was working there, occasionally an older person from town would come in to pay their electric bill! The ladies in the front office were very patient, explaining it was now the newspaper office. Usually the people would say something like, "Oh, that's right."

It was also fun to hear some of the people coming in speak Pennsylvania Dutch to one of the secretaries.

The building in Boyertown looks almost the same as this 1996 photo except the names of additional papers were added as they were bought: The Hamburg Item, the Kutztown Patriot News, and more after I left. Berks-Mont was bought by the Journal Register about 2006.

“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers

or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate

a moment to prefer the latter”

Thomas Jefferson quotes (American 3rd US President (1801-09).

Author of the Declaration of Independence. 1762-1826)