KPC Media Group, a family-owned business, is observing the 100th year of its founding as Kendallville Publishing Co. throughout this year.
The company has been headquartered in the same building on North Main Street in Kendallville throughout its 100-year history.
KPC hosted an open house there Aug. 7 that included tours of Kendallville’s historic downtown, in partnership with Main Street merchants and City Hall, and a historic downtown scavenger hunt, organized by KPC.
The group’s three daily newspapers included a 32-page broadsheet special section on Aug. 7 dubbed “Writing History One Day at a Time.”
Open houses will also be held during August in KPC’s satellite offices in Angola, Auburn and Fort Wayne.
Kendallville Publishing Co., the predecessor of KPC Media Group, was founded by O.E. Michaelis and George W. Baxter after merging their Kendallville daily newspapers into the Kendallville News-Sun on Aug. 7, 1911.
The company was sold to C.O. Merica in 1913. He died in 1918, and his wife, Alice Merica, became the principal owner of the company for the next half century.
At the time of her death on Jan. 25, 1969, at the age of 103, she was the oldest newspaper publisher in the United States.
George O. Witwer, who came to Kendallville as editor and general manager of The News Sun in 1962, became the principal owner and publisher in 1969.
Witwer family members continue as the owners and operators of the company.
George O. Witwer is publisher emeritus.
Terry G. Housholder, who first went to work for the company while in high school in 1969, has been president and publisher since 2001.
Dave Kurtz is executive editor of KPC’s three seven-day-a-week newspapers.
In addition KPC publishes three weekly community newspapers and Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly.
The company’s name changed to KPC Media Group in 2005. Its main website is kpcnews.com.
