NOW IN FRESH SPACE AT 212 MARSHALL ROAD
With this edition, The Landmark begins its 160th year of continuous publication.
The Landmark is the oldest newspaper in Platte County, older than the Kansas City Star and one of the longest-running continuously published newspapers west of the Mississippi. The Landmark has never missed a week of publication in its existence, which dates back to the closing days of the Civil War in 1865. The Landmark is the fifth oldest business of any type in the entire Kansas City metropolitan area, as recognized by the Kansas City Business Journal.
Led by publishers who were unafraid, the newspaper’s debut edition hit the streets on Sept. 28, 1865, when the first Landmark was published at Weston with the motto “Remove not the ancient landmarks.” About six years later, The Landmark moved from Weston to Platte City, where it has since been published.
After The Landmark moved to Platte City in 1871, it took up shop in a variety of downtown locations until settling in at what would be its longtime spot at 252 Main Street in the year 1899.
In late August of 2023, The Landmark sold its 252 Main Street building and moved to its current modernized and more functional location at 212 Marshall Road, Suite C, in Platte City, in what is the former Platte County Health Department building.
SOME HISTORY
In March of 1899, The Landmark moved into the building at 252 Main Street. Historical records indicate this building had been constructed in 1869 by Dr. G.W. Smith as a drug store and a post office. Verifying the post office history at this location, in 2017 on a dive into the building’s basement crawl space uncovered a section of post office boxes, with names of residents still attached on the back side of many of the boxes.
In later years a grocery store and hardware store occupied the building before the newspaper took over occupancy.
In 1899, The Landmark installed a huge sheet-fed Babcock press that would be used until 1979. A gasoline engine originally furnished the power to run the press until an electric motor was installed in 1928.
In 1916, Max Jones, who had been the shop foreman, began managing the newspaper for the estate of the previous owner.
On Jan. 1, 1918, Max Jones purchased The Landmark and became the editor and publisher. Jones had begun serving an apprenticeship in printing at The Landmark at the age of 16 in 1892. Jones served as editor and publisher until his death in 1956.
Until 1923, the type had been set by hand. In May 1923, a Linotype machine was purchased. The Linotype allowed the operator to set more type than could ordinarily be produced by five or six men working by hand.
After Max Jones’ death in 1956, his widow, Lucile L. Jones, took over as editor and publisher, with Roland Giffee handling printing and press room duties. In 1979, Mrs. Jones sold The Landmark to Dwayne Foley, who was the owner of two weekly newspapers and a central printing plant in northeastern Kansas.
Over the years Mrs. Jones had become acquainted with Foley, skilled as both a newspaperman and a pressman, periodically asking him to assist with the Babcock press, the Linotype and other Landmark equipment on those occasions presses had broken down or she was short on staff.
In the first edition under his ownership in November of 1979, Dwayne Foley switched The Landmark from the hot lead (known as ‘letterpress’) style of printing to the offset method, the modern thing at the time. Dwayne Foley, 50, died unexpectedly in July of 1980, just months after buying The Landmark. The paper continued to be owned and published by his widow, Ethel Mae Foley, and family.
Veteran newsman Clay McGinnis, with previous experience at the Independence Examiner and other Kansas City area publications, served as news editor of The Landmark from 1980 until 1993.
Ivan Foley, Dwayne Foley’s youngest son, is now in his 42nd year at The Landmark, having started with reporting and managing duties in May of 1982. Foley added the role of editor to his duties after McGinnis died during heart surgery in 1993.
In 1993, The Landmark took the technological step into the computer world, buying its first two desktop publishing computers. The newspaper’s news and editorials began taking a more aggressive approach. Steadily throughout the next 15 years, The Landmark’s circulation grew to become the largest paid readership in the county, steadily building a statewide reputation for editorializing in strong fashion while informing and entertaining readers. Over the last 20 years the newspaper has won many statewide awards in the Missouri Press Associations Better Newspaper Contest.
In 2016, Ivan Foley was recognized with a national honor for courage, tenacity and integrity in rural journalism, winning the Tom and Pat Gish Award presented by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media.
THE LANDMARK BUILDING
In 2002, Ivan Foley and his wife, Linda, purchased the newspaper operation and The Landmark building at 252 Main Street in Platte City from Ethel Mae Foley.
In 2008, Ivan and Linda renovated the exterior of the historic 1869 Landmark building to return it to more of its original look. Commercial Waterproofing of Parkville was hired to strip away paint that for years had covered the building’s original brick, tuckpointing the brick for a fresh look and adding water-repellant sealer.
Topping off the rehab project were four new large arch-style windows installed on the second story. The aluminum energy efficient windows were installed by Jim Plunkett’s JPI Glass of Platte County.
The rehabilitation work was recognized by the City of Platte City, with Foleys being presented the first William Paxton Preservation Award for preserving Main Street’s architectural heritage. The award was presented by Mayor Frank Offutt and the board of aldermen in March of 2009.
On Sept. 1, 2023, Foleys sold the building at 252 Main Street to Blake Barth and moved the newspaper to its updated and more functional space for today’s world of journalism, in the lower level of the former Platte County Health Department building at 212 Marshall Road. The former health department building is owned by David Barth.
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES
In recent years, The Landmark has become a multi-media news outlet by incorporating video in its news coverage.
The newspaper’s website at plattecountylandmark.com was revamped during the pandemic of 2020, debuting with its new look on May 1 of that year. It is the most popular media website in the county, with 252,000 page views monthly. The Landmark’s website attracts national advertisers such as YouTubeTV, Nissan, Staples, Office Depot, Walgreens, VRBO and many more.
The Landmark has an occasional live video broadcast known as Landmark Live, hosted by Foley and fellow Landmark columnists on the newspaper’s Facebook page. Landmark Live, which was begun in 2017, is a lighthearted and informative show featuring Landmark staff members and notable special guests discussing current events. A few notable guests on the show have included Carol Lawrence, comedic actress and musician best known for her time on the Carol Burnett television show, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, former US Attorney Todd Graves, and many more.
Platte County Landmark on Facebook has 8,600 followers, far more than any other Platte County media outlet, despite the fact The Landmark did not establish its Facebook presence until 2017.
Included among current Landmark employees are office manager/graphic designer Cindy Rinehart, now in her 32nd year at the newspaper. Debbie Coleman-Topi has been a contributing reporter for eight years, and Valerie Verkamp, now in ad sales has been with the paper since 2011. Bill Hankins, a member of the Missouri Photojournalism Hall of Fame, remains a contributor.
Columnists include 13-year veteran Chris Kamler and his The Rambling Moron column. Kamler is noted for being one of the most popular Twitter personalities in Kansas City. Guy Speckman, with his entertaining Ponder the Thought column, is in his fifth year with The Landmark after previously being owner/publisher of the Savannah Reporter, a weekly newspaper in Savannah, Mo.
Hearne Christopher, former about-town columnist for the Kansas City Star, pens an occasional column known as KC Confidential for The Landmark and has done so for 15 years.
Fred Felix of Platte City is in his fourth year handling a variety of distribution duties, including running delivery routes each week primarily through southern Platte County.
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