Unity Press (Away from the Canals, Edition 4)

I am intrigued by mill buildings located away from Holyoke's canal system. One such building is at 232-242 Suffolk Street, where Unity Press was located.

The origins of the Unity Press began as the printers of the Holyoke Transcript newspaper in 1872. The print shop was located within the Transcript building at 180 High Street. 

By 1906, the shop was known as the "Transcript Job Print Department", which printed Elizabeth Towne's NAUTILUS and other works. The shop advertised the printing of billheads, letterheads, statements, rent receipts, receipt blanks, form letters, and custom prints. The print shop was awarded the printing of the 1921 Holyoke Municipal Register.

In 1922, the Holyoke Transcript sold its job printing plant and a significant contract to print the Price & Lee City Directories to a newly formed corporation, Unity Press, Inc. 

The incorporators of Unity Press, all veteran Holyoke Transcript employees, were:

Andrew J Hunter, President
Seraphim Archambault, Vice-President
Lachlan Murray, Secretary
Charles T. Fahey, Treasurer

Unity Press then leased and operated the Transcript Print Shop, which continued into 1929. In the summer of 1929, the Transcript planned to erect a new building. The Unity Press principals decided to move to larger quarters to accommodate their growing business. 

On March 13, 1929, Unity Press Inc. purchased vacant land on the southeast corner of Suffolk and Linden Streets from Thomas A. Bray. Three years earlier, Bray had purchased this land from Holyoke Water Power Company.

In May 1929, Unity Press awarded W. K Traquair the contract to construct the new print building. The May 2, 1929 edition of the Transcript stated, "The building will be of two stories and of modern steel construction. New presses will be installed that will make the shop one of the best equipped in this part of New England. Howes and Howes are the architects."

Unity Press continued at this location for thirty years. The company won many contacts to print the Holyoke and West Springfield Municipal Registers, voters lists, school department publications and annual reports. Aside from these jobs, the company performed private printing jobs, including two identified as Holyoke residents; (Edward) Gordon's Book on Contract Bridge and Blanche D. Sampson's collection of forty-nine poems titled The Crystal Loom.

The company lost its largest account, the Price & Lee Company of New Haven, CT in February 1959. The publisher of city directories had found another method of printing directories and no longer needed Unity Press's services.

Thirty-five employees lost their jobs the following month when Unity Press closed. The machinery and equipment were sold at a public auction in late April 1959.

The 13,000-square-foot building was sold to the owners of Plymouth Paper Company in November 1959.

Source of news articles: Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript-Telegram; Publication dates are shown.