The Butte County Post is today’s official newspaper for Belle Fourche and Butte County.
With roots dating back to 1891, today’s Butte County Post is the current operation of newspapers in Belle Fourche and Newell that dates back to the Belle Fourche Bee, a weekly newspaper begun with typesetting on a hotel floor in May of 1891.
The Bee continued as a weekly newspaper for decades, even as it changed ownership to the Belle Fourche Post and continued under several owners.
The Post had name changes, but continued into the early 1990s when new owners published it as the Belle Fourche Post and Belle Fourche Bee in a twice-weekly operation.
The Newell Irrigator operated from 1910 in various forms until it was merged with the Belle Fourche Post as the Butte County Post.
Today the newspaper serves the entire county under general manager Mona Heimbaugh and editor Milo Dailey.
Heimbaugh is an experienced media consultant for the Northern Hills and Dailey has more than 50 years in news reporting and editing, most headquartered with South Dakota-based publications.
Through the years, the local newspaper covered news in the county and carried minutes from local governing bodies.
Major changes in the newspaper operations have been the result of changes in technology from when metal type printed on low-quality paper to today’s computer-based editing and color photos on high quality newsprint.
Dailey said, “The biggest real change besides the natural changes in personnel through nearly a century and a quarter has been the huge benefit of higher quality printing and computer editing.”
But, Heimbaugh said, “The thing that hasn’t changed in well over a century is the commitment to offering our readers the most timely and accurate news and advertising services in the Northern Hills region.”