The privately owned company focuses on books from the Pacific Northwest, and has printed many important titles covering Oregon's history.

[2] Peter and Maurice moved to Klickitat County, Washington, in 1884 with their older sister Julia, who had married Frank Lee.

[3] Peter later worked in the printing industry in Klickitat County for his brother in law Lee at several newspapers.

[4] Early authors included Thomas Nelson Strong, Charles Henry Carey, Howard McKinley Corning, and Frederic Homer Balch among others.

[4] During the Great Depression, the company acquired the rights to print the American Guide Series guidebooks created by the Works Progress Administration's Writers Project for Utah, Washington, Nevada, and Oregon, which proved very profitable.

[5] After the older Binfords left, Thomas failed to maintain the quality of the editorial process for new books.

[9] By that time P. L. Gardenier served as editor and they focused on works of non-fiction,[10] while also printing books for self-publishers.