If you haven’t heard the news, The Tribune recently moved two blocks away from its location at 100 St. Louis Ave. to the second floor of the Smith Law Services building at 121 N. Chestnut St. in downtown Seymour.

While it’s kind of sad that we had to say goodbye to the place we had called home since March 1, 2003, it was time for a change.

At the time The Tribune moved into building 100 St. Louis Ave., which once housed Sears Roebuck and Co., from 1215 E. Tipton St., we still had a printing press that required plenty of room.

Because we still printed a daily paper at that time, we had several pressmen and other staff involved in pre-press. We also had another dozen or so full-time and part-time people involved in “stuffing” the inserts into each newspaper as it came hot off the press.

Those jobs all disappeared around 2010 when we started printing The Tribune at The Republic’s print center in Walesboro. Now, The Tribune is printed at Gannett Publishing Services on the northwest side of Indianapolis.

After our purchase by Home News Enterprises in early 2012, much of our business operations and the design and production of our ads were consolidated at The Republic in Columbus. At that time, the responsibility for laying out the pages of The Tribune each day also shifted to a central copy/pagination desk in Columbus. Some of our staff at that time went to work in Columbus and remain there today.

But the loss of those positions meant we no longer needed all of the space 100 St. Louis Ave. offered us, so we recently started the search for a new, smaller location.

We believe we have found it here on the second floor of what originally was First National Bank of Seymour.

The city’s oldest bank, established in 1864 during the Civil War, received bids to construct the building in March 1926, and it opened May 14, 1927. Early in the Great Depression, Seymour National Bank assumed control of First National Bank and the two banks merged Nov. 23, 1931, according to local historian Kevin Greene. The building was remodeled and expanded in 1963 and remodeled again in 1973.

Our new office allows us to operate more efficiently while still providing great customer service.

We plan to be here for a long, long time just doing what we do best — bringing the news of the day, the stories of the people who live and work here and community events to you. It’s something we have been doing for 144 years now without interruption.

Over those years, The Tribune has had at least two other locations besides the three most recent ones.

On Aug. 9, 1920, The Seymour Daily Republican purchased the assets of The Seymour Daily Democrat and combined the two into the Seymour Daily Tribune. At that time, the newspaper was located at 208 W. Second St.

On Aug. 1, 1951, an open house was held at a new brick building constructed for the Seymour Daily Tribune at 309 N. Chestnut St. That building now houses city hall.

Looking back even further, in the fall of 1879, the Seymour Republican, a weekly newspaper, was founded by Platter and Sons Co. That newspaper was published at the Independent Order of Odd Fellows building at Third and Chestnut streets.

With that kind of history on our side, you can count on The Tribune remaining here for a long time to come.

If you find yourself downtown, stop in and say hello. Someone will give you the 5-cent tour or perhaps with inflation, the $5 tour.

On a personal note, I have spent more than three decades as a reporter/editor with The Tribune. I started my career with The Trib when we were located at 1215 E. Tipton St. on the east side of the city back in the summer of 1986. I was particularly happy when we moved back downtown in 2003 to St. Louis Avenue.

Our new location is already my favorite after spending less than two weeks here. That’s because we are right “smack dab” in the midst of what looks to be a resurgence of the downtown with all new restaurants and other business openings and moves.

Dan Robison, director of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, recently told me he thinks the downtown may be reaching a tipping point to something bigger. I agree.