Ephrata Printing Press
Ephrata Printing Press Comes Alive News Article
The historic Ephrata Press comes to the college due
to the great generosity of the Frank R. King Family Trust of New
Enterprise, Pa. This old press was thought to have been set up by
the German Seventh Day Baptists - a group strongly related to Juniata's
Brethren founders - in Ephrata, Pa, in 1728. The press was apparently
made in Germany and operates with the principle of the screw, patterned
after wine presses prevalent in European countries. The press could
very well have printed historic documents such as the Declaration
of Independence, as well as Continental Currency, and the Martyr's
Mirror which is a Mennonite publication.
The press was moved from Ephrata to Snow Hill in the
early part of the 19th century. At Snow Hill a mission had been
established which was very similar in many respects to the Ephrata
Cloister, by members of the Seventh Day Baptists. It is interesting
to note that Juniata College now holds the documents and books of
the Snow Hill Nunnery, courtesy again of the King Family Trust,
and through the specific efforts of Mr. Crist King. Abraham Cassel,
the esteemed Pennsylvania German bibiophile who's collection resides
in large part at Juniata, corresponded with Obed Snowberger, a prominent
member of Snow Hill Nunnery in the late 1800's. Those letters are
contained in the Snow Hill collection and allow one to see the relevancy
of the collection and the press to Juniata College's holding and
to a common anabaptist background. The press was not used as much
at Snow Hill, eventually in the late 1800's the press was purchased
by Christian L. King and then passed on to Mr. Frank R. King. It
was from his family that the press came to the college. Still a
working press, and located in the library's second floor Treasure
Room, the college hopes to bring the old press to life every so
often and allow it to "get back to work."
