Putaruru Press

When the first issue of the Putaruru Press was printed in 1923, there were only about 300 people living in the small South Waikato town. However, the town grew with the development of exotic forestry in the surrounding area from around 1924. Forestry became one of the major industries of the region as logs were milled in the area then transported to the ports by rail. By 1946 the population had nearly quadrupled to 1,160. The Press played an important role in the region as it was the only newspaper reporting on news from Tīrau, north of Putāruru, down to Mōkai, near Taupō.

The Putaruru Press was established by Cargill Publishing Co Ltd, a Morrinsville-based company started by William Clement Cargill (1870-1933) and Albert George Yardley (1886-1959) in 1920. Cargill purchased his first newspaper, the Wairarapa Star in 1892, and went on to own newspapers in Pātea, Pukekohe, Morrinsville, Matamata and finally Putāruru. Cargill and Yardley strived to keep ownership local and when they set up their company, shares were restricted to locals or those invested in the area.

Cargill Publishing had established a branch office in Putaruru in 1920, and appointed Gerald E Martin to be their representative in the town. Martin then became the first editor of the Press when it began, until he moved to Pukekohe in 1925. He was replaced by Gerald G Griffiths.

After William Cargill’s death in 1933, ownership of the Putaruru Press remained with Yardley and a number of local shareholders. They appointed 20-year-old Aucklander Frank G Snedden as editor-manager in September 1933. As the sole employee of the Putaruru Press, Snedden was responsible for reporting news and selling advertisements, as well as the banking, mail and cleaning. To keep costs down, Cargill Publishing printed its three weekly newspapers — the Putaruru Press, the Matamata Record and the Morrinsville Star — from their press in Morrinsville. Snedden sent his news and advertising copy by rail to Morrinsville, and on Thursday morning the train arrived with bundles of the Putaruru Press. Snedden left Putāruru after a couple of years, but returned as editor in 1956 where he remained until his retirement in 1973.

In 1956 the printing process changed when new offices and a printing press were built in Putāruru. The town had continued to grow as several new sawmills were built, and the growing population, as well as the new facilities, meant that the Press became bi-weekly. The mills provided an income to a new generation of Putāruru residents, but changes in the forestry industry during the 1980s led to a decline in the population and eventually the closure of the Press. The final issue of the Putaruru Press was published on 7 June 1989 after which it was incorporated into the South Waikato News.