End of an era: After 55-plus years in business, the Anaconda Leader closes up shop
A "Permanently Closed" sign hangs in the window of the Anaconda Leader's office at 121 Main St., as the Leader announced on Monday morning, June 8 that is has closed for business. Leader photo: James S. Rosien
For more than 55 years, the Anaconda Leader has reported in newsprint twice a week on the happenings of Anaconda-Deer Lodge County while also serving as a full-service print shop for the Smelter City. Now that era has come to an end: the Leader has officially closed for business.
Van Neitz, owner of Leader Printing & Supply and son of the paper’s founder, the late Dean Neitz, made the closure announcement to staff Monday morning, June 8, citing the impact of inflation and the rising costs of operations.
“We thank Anaconda for the last 55 years we’ve been in business. This community has been very good to our family,” Van Neitz said.
Located inside the historic Pay Office Hall at 121 Main St., Dean Neitz launched the Leader in 1970, with its first edition going to press on a Thursday – Dec. 17, 1970. The paper would soon switch to a twice-weekly format, publishing on Wednesdays and Fridays covering all things local in Anaconda. Dean, who also had owned the Philipsburg Mail and later started up the Whitehall Ledger as well, continued running the Leader until his death in 2019, with his son Van taking the reins at the paper and print shop.
The Leader witnessed many changes in Anaconda throughout the decades, from a new State Constitution and along with it a new form of government with the consolidation of Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, the dark days of the smelter’s closure and the years of uncertainty that came with it, but then a new hope for the future with the era of environmental cleanup that is seeing the Smelter City transform into a recreation destination for Southwest Montana.
“It has been one of my true privileges in life not only to cover Anaconda for the past 15 years and witness its transformation, but most of all to get to know so many wonderful people here in a place I’ve been fortunate to call home – and I truly hope to be able to do so for many more years to come,” said Leader Editor James S. Rosien.
Van Neitz said the details of the dissolution are currently in the works and that the public would be notified as to any further information concerning the business at a later date.
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