On July 13, 1907, before a crowd of 3,000 onlookers, the ninety-foot Washburn Saw Mill chimney was razed. Built of about 125,000 Kelsey bricks manufactured near Round Lake in Andover, Minnesota, it was brought down using a method reportedly based on a Scientific American plan for felling chimneys in Bavaria: workers removed several rows of bricks from the north side to create a gap two feet high and slightly more than half the width of the base, inserted wooden struts, wrapped them with oil-soaked rags, poured fifteen gallons of kerosene over wood and kindling inside the chimney, and lit the fire at 3:44 p.m. After standing for twenty minutes, the chimney suddenly gave way and fell within a few seconds. About three-fourths of the bricks remained intact and, after cleaning by local youths paid $1 per 1,000 bricks, were used to build the Pease Printery at the northwest corner of Harrison Street and Second Avenue. The Pease family's newspaper legacy began in 1866 when Granville Pease started as a press operator at the Anoka Union Newspaper, became a partner within a year, and soon became sole owner. Four generations of the family worked in and ran the paper and print operations from 1866 to 1989. Granville's son Thomas, also known as T.G.J., joined in 1893, began running the paper in 1921, and worked alongside his wife, editor of the society and news pages, while his sons Gleason and Archie were writers. In 1946 T.G.J. passed the paper to Arch, and in 1959 Arch expanded the business by purchasing the Anoka Herald, its main competitor since 1885; that paper became the Coon Rapids Herald and continued under the family. In December 1907 operations moved into this building on the east bank of the Rum River, constructed from the reclaimed chimney bricks, and the Union was printed there from 1907 to 1953 before moving to a new building on Jackson Street large enough for modern press equipment. In 1989 Pease family management of the Anoka Union ended when the business was sold to ECM Publishers, Inc.