History of Matthews Printing Company
Matthews Printing Company was founded in 1948 by W.E. (Eph) Matthews. The print shop was located on North Main Street just north the Princeton Hotel on the Square in Downtown Gainesville, Georgia. This location was the building formerly occupied by the Gainesville Eagle, the forerunner of the Gainesville Daily Times. When the Gainesville Daily Times was founded, new newspaper style equipment was installed on the corner of Washington and Grove Street and the commercial printing equipment was sold to Eph by Charles Smithgall, who did not wish to continue in the "job printing" business as it was called at that time. At the time of the purchase, Eph Matthews was a linotype operator for the Times and had worked for the Gainesville Eagle and The Gainesville News, both weekly newspapers serving the Gainesville area.
The company operated as a "hot metal" shop until the early years of the 1950's when offset printing presses and camera equipment were installed. This was a first for the Gainesville area and Matthews Printing Company rapidly became known as a quality printer.
In 1958, the print shop moved from North Main Street into a new 5000+ square foot facility, and its' present location, at 336 Northside Drive. New presses, camera and typesetting equipment were installed and the number of employees grew to nine. A one thousand foot addition was added to make room for additional equipment in 1966.
On July 1, 1967, after 19 years of successful operation of the company, Eph decided it was time to play golf and work in his garden. So, he sold the print shop to two of his employees, Curtis Pethel and Bill Lipscomb.
In May of 1983, Bill Lipscomb purchased all of the stock of the company and became sole owner.
A new 4200 square foot building addition was completed in 1999 giving the shop a total of 10,600 square feet. A state-of-the-art prepress department has been in service since 1994 offering the latest in computer design and graphics. Four multi-color presses have been installed along with the bindery and other equipment necessary to support operations.
The heart of the present day operation is a staff of more than 20 skilled craftsman who take pride in the product they produce. The number in years of experiences at Matthews totals more than 400 years.
The operating philosophy of Matthews Printing Company remains now as it has been for so many years; "to produce a quality printing product at a fair price and to make delivery in the promised amount of time."
The owner and staff are dedicated to the slogan that Eph Matthews adopted so many years ago, "Service that Satisfies."
W.E. "Eph" Matthews
Bill Lipscomb