In 1948, Richard W. Brann and his wife published the first edition of the
Verde Independent. It was an eight-page tabloid. Brann previously worked at the
Boulder City News. Brann built the paper's first offices from
World War II surplus
Quonset huts. The original buildings were located on a river rock foundation in Smelter City, Arizona. Where the first buildings were enlarged and modernized, and they remain the offices for the
Independent. In 2015, the paper was criticized for running a lightly edited Sheriff's office
press release as if it was a news story. The paper said the lack of labeling was an oversight. ==References==