Touring Cleveland’s Plain Dealer Plant

Tour the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s production facility for a fun and educational activity for the family.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has been providing Clevelanders with news since 1842, There are famous newspapers in cities all over the world. Many know The Plain Dealer due to its unique name and length of time providing news to area Clevelanders. This newspaper is as successful today, as it was when it started. The Plain Dealer continues to be Ohio’s largest newspaper.

History of Newspaper

The first newspaper in the United States was in Boston in 1690. The newspaper Public Occurrences was published and distributed without government permission. Public Occurrences did not last long. The next newspaper to appear was again in Boston in 1704. This newspaper was permitted and subsidized by the government. After that success, newspapers started appearing in every city. By 1850, there were 2,526 newspapers being produced and distributed. That number grew to 11, 314 by the year 1880. There was a growing need for timely and accurate information. The newspapers were small operations and slowly grew larger. The Plain Dealer started out as a small scale news operation and has grown to a major presence in the Cleveland area. Currently, The Plain Dealer ranks in the top 20 newspapers in the United States and has approximately 800,000 readers.

Newspaper Production Facility

Since 1994 the Plain Dealer has been produced at the Tiedeman Production and Distribution Center in Brooklyn, Ohio. This facility was designed, engineered, and built by The Austin Company. The Austin Company, a local Cleveland company, focused on a “green” design for the building. During the construction of the building, 75 trees were uprooted and replanted near the construction area.

When the building was complete these trees were used to landscape the area around the facility. The Austin Company designed the building so that 3,000-pound newsprint rolls could enter the building on one side and a finished product would come out on the other side of the building. This design allows for the more efficient production of the newspaper. The entire production facility cover 84 acres of land.

Tours

The public is fortunate to be allowed to tour this facility. Public tours are conducted on Saturdays at 1pm. Additional tours are done by reservation for groups of 15 or more. The minimum age for the tour is 8 years old (this is a strict age restriction). During the tour, you wear headphones to reduce the noise. Children younger than eight may not be able to tolerate the noise or headphones. The tour takes a trip through the Newsprint Warehouse, the Ink Tank Room, the Mailroom, and to see the Press Operators. It is an opportunity not to be missed when you visit the Cleveland area. Call 216-999-5665 for tours of the facility.

Plain Dealer Production and Distribution Center
4800 Tiedeman Road
Brooklyn, OH 44144

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