Cherokee Phoenix Print Shop, New Echota State Historic Site, Georgia

The Cherokee Phoenix, the first Native American newspaper in the United States, came off a hand press in the Cherokee capital of New Echota from February 21, 1828, with English and Cherokee set side by side in columns, the Cherokee in its own syllabary. The press and type had come by ship and wagon from Boston. Elias Boudinot edited the paper until publication stopped in 1834, and in 1835 the Georgia Guard confiscated the press. The original press is gone. The reconstructed print shop on the site holds an iron hand press from around 1870, similar in design, used for printing demonstrations. Archaeologists digging there in 1954 recovered well over a thousand pieces of lead printing type.