Warrick Publishing has a history of providing news and advertising services to Warrick County dating back to 1851. In 1885, Charles H. Johnson was hired by the Boonville Enquirer, later to become the Warrick Enquirer. For the next 100 years, either Charles or his son, C. Richard Johnson, had a hand in producing at least one of the Warrick County newspapers, now operated by Warrick Publishing Company. The Johnson’s family love affair with Warrick County newspapers began when Charles Johnson joined the staff of the Boonville Enquirer in 1885 at the age of 15. His son, C. Richard Johnson, became editor of the Boonville Standard in June of 1935, the same year his father completed his 50th year in printing. The elder Mr. Johnson was promoted to foremen of the Enquirer the later part of 1888. He left the Enquirer’s employment Jan. 1, 1895 to join the staff of the Boonville Standard. In January 1899, he accepted the foremanship of the Boonville Standard and in December 1905, a partnership was formed between Johnson and Thomas Downs, resulting in the purchase of the Boonville Standard on Jan. 6, 1906. The partnership lasted until Down’s death on March 19, 1928. Soon after Downs death, Johnson purchased the partner’s interest and became the sole owner of The Boonville Standard. He died in May 1944 following an extended illness. C. Richard Johnson joined the paper as editor following his graduation from Indiana University. After taking over sole ownership of The Boonville Standard, with his wife, Louise, following the death of his mother, he bought his next paper, The Newburgh Register in 1961. This was followed by the purchase of the Chandler Light, which was renamed The Chandler Post in 1963. The purchase of the Boonville Enquirer was made in 1966, when illness resulted in the sale of Boonville's oldest newspaper by the owners, Mr. and Mrs. David Newby. The Boonville Enquirer was established in 1851; The Boonville Standard in 1875; The Newburgh Register in 1886; and the Chandler Post in 1955. The newspapers represent 409 years of combined service to the communities and citizens of Warrick County, a record few newspapers can boast. The papers were bought by Brehm Communications in 1983. Staying on staff as publisher, Johnson celebrated his family’s 100 years of community journalism in 1985. Sadly, Johnson died in 1997 on Aug. 21 at the age of 85. He is survived by his wife, Louise, who to this day still stops by the newspaper’s office and chats with employees. The “family” tradition did not come to a halt with the Warrick Publishing purchase. The family element is clearly reflected in the fact that Bill Brehm Sr., his wife Mona, and son Bill Jr. are all actively involved in day to day management of the company. Brehm also regards long time employees as members of “the newspaper family.” With two locations in the county, an office at 501 State Street in Newburgh and the main production facility and office at 204 West Locust Street in Boonville, Warrick Publishing Co. has 22 employees, carriers for 20 walk routes and drivers for 31 motor routes. The combined circulation of the newspaper is near 20,000. During the 1960s and 1970s the newspaper industry was undergoing a major change in technology. Newspapers began to abandon the hot metal typesetting Linotypes and introduced cold type set by typewriter-like keyboard equipment on plain paper or film. Hot metal presses were converted to cold type and offset production. With the arrival of the digital revolution in the 1990s, Warrick Publishing once more underwent a major change in technology. As competition and operating costs increased so did the need for improved quality, four-color photographic reproduction, more current appearances and efficient production. Remodeling took place in both office locations in 1994 along with equipment updating. Classified, editorial, advertising and composing departments all became totally computerized to make production more efficient. | 
