Title: Pressmen's Home Photograph Collection, 1907-1976 and undated
Show Historical Note
The International Printing Pressmen and Assistants Union (IPP&AU) was founded in 1889. For nearly 20 years, the offices of the IPP&AU were located wherever the international secretary-treasurer and president maintained a residence. On July 15, 1907 the IPP&AU offices were housed on the seventh floor of the Lyric (Theatre) Building on Vine Street in Cincinnati, Ohio. On October 29, 1909 the IPP&AU offices were established on the 5th floor of the Second National Bank Building in Cincinnati, remaining there until removal to Pressmen's Home.
The location of the IPP&AU at Pressmen's Home was brought about by President George L. Berry's report to the 1909 convention that printing pressmen were the fifth group of trades in America to contract tuberculosis (consumption). After much deliberation, it was decided that a sanatorium should be constructed for IPP&AU members. It was further found that the best place for care of tuberculosis was within a 50 mile radius of Asheville, North Carolina. With this in mind, Berry and his associate, John Geckler, went to Asheville.
While in the south, Berry decided to visit his home place, Clinch Valley, Hawkins County, Tennessee. Time slipped away from Berry and his party, so they spent the night at Hale Springs, a 70-year-old health resort of the mineral water variety. Learning that the resort was up for sale by the District Chancery Court, Berry obtained an 18-month option at a price of $8,423.70 for the 260 acres of land. The property was 75 miles from Asheville, the 1324-foot elevation was judged the best for tuberculosis cure, and the pine covered mountains reportedly exuded an ozone particularly beneficial for TB-afflicted individuals.
At the convention of 1910 members voted approval for the sanatorium and school at the Hale Springs site. The first construction began on October 10, 1910. In May 1911 officials moved records of Berry and Secretary-Treasurer Charles B. Crowley from Cincinnati into the administration building at what came to be called "Pressmen's Home". Pressmen's Home became the site of the IPP&AU convention of June 1911 and was "convention city" for the next 41 years.
During the initial years of its existence, Pressmen's Home experienced significant growth. The Technical Trade School opened September 1, 1911, while the sanatorium opened October 12, 1916. A post office, general merchandise store, telephone company, chapel and hotel all opened before 1930.
As long as rail transportation was the predominant mode of transportation, access to Pressmen's Home was relatively easy. IPP&AU members and visitors disembarked at Bull's Gap and then drove to the complex. But, as planes supplanted trains, travel to IPP&AU conventions became more difficult. Consequently, in May 1967 members voted to move union headquarters to Washington, D. C. The president's office remained at Pressmen's Home until 1969, when the union sold the property to a group of developers who founded a resort called "Camelot". The resort failed, and the company soon declared bankruptcy. First Pennsylvania Trust Company of New Jersey bought the property in the early 1980s. Since 1984, however, First Pennsylvania has sold off parcels of land to various buyers.
