Key Peninsula News received two large boxes of past editions after the KP Historical Society did some end of summer cleaning in August. Most of the copies were duplicate editions that had already been scanned and uploaded to the online archive, but there were at least 30 new additions to add to the collection.
Staff members Ted Olinger and Joseph Pentheroudakis volunteered hundreds of hours in 2017 and 2018 working to collect, scan and archive every article, photograph, advertisement and edition published in the KP News they could find — 44 years’ worth.
The archive begins with the earliest known copy of what was then called The KP Civic Center Newsletter in October 1975. That edition refers to earlier issues, but none have been located nor is it known how many were printed before then.
Other than those earliest editions, the online archive contains all but 14 issues of the KP News over its 49 year history. The hardcopies were donated to the Tacoma Public Library for cataloging and preservation.
Published at least once a month (sometimes more) and free to the community, the publication became the Key Peninsula Newsletter in December 1978, and then evolved into the Key Peninsula News in June 1984 as its circulation increased.
The newspaper was shut down in August 2002 by its owner, the KP Civic Center, due to mismanagement. It was resurrected by board members in February 2003 as financially and editorially independent from the civic center, and has been published as a monthly nonprofit, and award-winning, newspaper ever since.
UNDERWRITTEN BY THE FUND FOR NONPROFIT NEWS (NEWSMATCH) AT THE MIAMI FOUNDATION, THE ANGEL GUILD, ADVERTISERS, DONORS AND PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT, NONPROFIT LOCAL NEWS
