In 1996 (or as late as early 2000s), many published texts were via tools like Dreamweaver, where the publisher would checkout / lock a file, make static changes

In 1996 (or as late as early 2000s), many published texts were via tools like Dreamweaver, where the publisher would checkout / lock a file, make static changes, and save the file, directly on prod. Like you said, it's not surprising at all they have a large portion of their articles in static HTML files.