Ben Lane Print Shop

Although larger printing businesses of the period adopted the modern process of offset lithography, the new technology arrived slowly to rural areas.

Consequently, a press such as the Ben Lane Printing Shop continued to use moveable-type letterpress production similar to that devised by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century.

The Ben Lane Printing Shop houses the type of equipment that a proprietor and his successors would accumulate in adapting their press to a half-century's technological advancements.

The final addition of a high-speed Heidelberg press with automatic inking and paper feed operated quickly and efficiently and dramatically increased output.

In late 18th century America, the local silversmith with a talent for engraving on metal often worked with the town printer to produce printed pictures for the general public.