| Oyster Bay Guardian | |
| Coordinates: | 40.8721°N -73.5325°W |
| Location: | 43 W Main St, Oyster Bay, New York, 2 Endo Blvd, Garden City |
| Built: | 1906 |
| Designation1: | Oyster Bay |
| Designation1 Offname: | The Printery |
| Designation1 Date: | March 10, 1987 |
The Oyster Bay Guardian is a weekly newspaper published in Oyster Bay, New York, since 1899. Back then, Nelson Disbrow began publishing this paper and also got a building to house his operations on West Main Street. While the newspaper has moved to another building, their building on West Main Street remains. Today, this building houses a commercial printing operation. The house is now a Town of Oyster Bay Landmark and a featured site on the Oyster Bay History Walk audio walking tour.
The Printery, characterized by its brown shingled exterior, served as the operational base for the Oyster Bay Guardian, a weekly newspaper established by Nelson Disbrow in 1899.
Before founding the Oyster Bay Guardian, Nelson Disbrow had amassed experience in several other prominent New York newspapers. His journey brought him to Oyster Bay in 1892, where he initially contributed to The Oyster Bay Pilot, another local newspaper. Between 1899 and 1906, the Guardian underwent a series of relocations. Its inaugural location was situated above a meat market on South Street, subsequently transitioning to the Vail Building at 80 South Street.
In 1905, interactions with a competing newspaper figure named Kennehan resulted in the Disbrows' lease being revoked from the Vail Building. Their quest for alternative accommodations was further complicated by the opposition they faced, making it a challenge to secure a rental within the town's confines.
Nelson bought his own property on West Main Street and in 1906 built the building, continuing to print the weekly paper as well as run his private printing business. After his death in 1928 his son Leslie Disbrow continued the Printery, expanding the Guardian to eight pages from the previous four. In 1967, the Disbrow family sold the newspaper to the newly formed Oyster Bay Publishing Company, a consortium of local women who elected Edwina Snow to the position of managing partner. The Disbrow family independently sold the Printery building to Elizabeth Schneider, who began her own endeavor as a private printer.The Guardian newspaper had also been located at 32 East Main Street, the former home of the grandparents of its Editor Emeritus Gloria O'Rourke who wrote a column called “Harbor Lights”. In 1999, the Guardian celebrated 100 years of continuous publication as an independently owned newspaper. They continue to report the weekly comings and goings of life in Oyster Bay.
The Printery continues, under the ownership of William Miller and Mary Abbene, and their print shop.[1]
In October 2010, the Oyster Bay Guardian was acquired by the publishing firm Richner Communications.[2]