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WILKES-BARRE — The Times Leader building on North Main Street has been re-listed for sale via Lewith & Freeman Real Estate.

The sale of the building is part of an effort to consolidate staff into the Times Leader’s East Market Street location, which formerly housed the Sunday Independent.

The 47,000-square-foot building located near Public Square has a history rooted in ink. According to Times Leader history columnist Tom Mooney, the site hasn’t been used by any industry except for newspaper publishing since the 1800s.

The Times-Leader was formed when The Union-Leader purchased The Wilkes-Barre Times in 1908. The Union-Leader was published at 7 N. Main St., a few feet from where the current Times Leader building resides.

One side of the building — its original structure — is four stories and was constructed in 1929. It was the home of the Wilkes-Barre Record. In 1939, the Record merged with the Times-Leader Evening News to form the Wilkes-Barre Publishing Company and operations were housed in a facility on West Market Street.

Operations moved to the location on North Main Street on Sept. 30, 1951, after a two-story addition was built onto the original four-story structure. The site of the addition was the former Loomis Building, which was razed to make way for the new construction.

A special edition about the history of the newspapers, information about all the departments and the construction of the new facility was published in 1952.

The company published two papers, a morning and evening edition, until after the Agnes Flood in 1972, when it began to publish a single daily edition.

The building on North Main Street currently provides offices for the editorial, marketing, advertisement and circulation departments. The East Market Street building houses the paper’s printing press, as well as the maintenance and graphics departments.

The Times Leader Building on North Main Street in Wilkes-Barre. 10/26/15. Sean McKeag | Times Leader
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_TimesLeaderBuilding.jpg.optimal.jpgThe Times Leader Building on North Main Street in Wilkes-Barre. 10/26/15. Sean McKeag | Times Leader

By Sarah Hite Hando

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Reach Sarah Hite Hando at 570-704-3945.