Texas NewspaperFoundation

History

Timeline of Texas Newspaper History

From the first Texas newspaper in 1813 to the founding of the Hall of Fame: 63 milestones in the story of the Texas press, set alongside the events that shaped the state.

The 1800s

1813–1888

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  1. 1813

    1813: First Texas newspaper published, Gazeta de Tejas.

  2. 1835

    1835: First successful newspaper begins, Telegraph & Texas Register.

  3. 1836
    Meanwhile in Texas

    1836: The Alamo falls; Texas wins independence at San Jacinto.

  4. 1842

    1842: Galveston News begins, becomes known as “Texas’ oldest business institution.”

  5. 1845
    Meanwhile in Texas

    1845: Texas annexed into the Union as 28th state.

  6. 1846

    1846: Victoria Advocate established. Calls itself “Texas’ second oldest newspaper.”

  7. 1853

    1853: Bastrop Advertiser begins, published continuously since then except during part of Civil War. Now called “Texas oldest weekly newspaper.”

  8. 1875

    1875: A.H. Belo becomes sole owner of Galveston News.

  9. 1880

    1880: Texas Press Association formed in Houston. J.W. Fishburn, Mexia Ledger, elected first president.

  10. 1885

    1885: Belo sends G.B. Dealey to Dallas to start a satellite publication, Dallas Morning News, creating nation’s first “newspaper chain.”

  11. 1888
    Meanwhile in Texas

    1888: Current Texas State Capitol building dedicated and opened in Austin.

The Early 1900s

1909–1953

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  1. 1909

    1909: Amon G. Carter founds Fort Worth Star-Telegram, promoting Fort Worth as “Where the West Begins.”

  2. 1919

    1919: Sam Fore, Jr. of Floresville Chronicle becomes president of TPA.

  3. 1922
    Meanwhile in Texas

    1922: Radio station WFAA, owned by A.H. Belo Corp., goes on the air in Dallas.

  4. 1924

    1924: William P. Hobby, former Texas governor, becomes owner and publisher of Houston Post.

  5. 1925
    Meanwhile in Texas

    1925: Radio station KPRC, owned by Houston Post, goes on the air in Houston.

  6. 1926

    1926: Jesse H. Jones becomes sole owner of Houston Chronicle. Served as FDR’s Secretary of Commerce during New Deal.

  7. 1926: George B. Dealey buys Dallas Morning News from Belo heirs.

  8. 1937
    Meanwhile in Texas

    1937: Natural gas explosion at New London school building kills 296 students and teachers.

  9. 1945

    1945: Amon Carter, publisher of Fort Worth Star-Telegram, launches Texas’ first television station, WBAP.

  10. 1947
    Meanwhile in Texas

    1947: SS Grandcamp explodes in the Texas City harbor, killing almost 600 and injuring at least 4,000 more.

  11. 1952

    1952: Carmage Walls of Southern Newspapers, Inc., buys Baytown Sun. Over next three decades, Walls buys and sells scores of local newspapers.

  12. 1953

    1953: Arthur H. Kowert of Fredericksburg Standard becomes president of TPA.

  13. Meanwhile in Texas

    1953: Texas-born Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes President of the United States.

The Middle 1900s

1953–1965

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  1. 1953

    1953: Staley McBrayer, inventor of offset newspaper printing press, builds the first Vanguard Press.

  2. 1955

    1955: Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting won by Kenneth Towery, Cuero Record, for exposing scandal in state’s Veterans’ Land Program.

  3. 1955: Pulitzer Prize for local reporting won by Mrs. Caro Brown, Alice Daily Echo, for stories on one-man political rule in Duval County.

  4. 1958

    1958: Blackie Sherrod becomes sports editor of Dallas Times Herald, later becoming most widely read sports writer in Texas.

  5. 1961

    1961: Ben R. Ezzell of Canadian Record writes exposé of John Birch Society.

  6. 1962
    Meanwhile in Texas

    1962: NASA opens the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston.

  7. 1963

    1963: Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting won by Oscar Griffin, Jr., Pecos Enterprise, for exposing Billie Sol Estes scandal.

  8. 1963: Bill Berger, publisher of Hondo Anvil Herald, becomes president of TPA.

  9. Meanwhile in Texas

    1963: President John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas; Texan Lyndon B. Johnson becomes 36th President.

  10. 1964
    Meanwhile in Texas

    1964: Pulitzer Prize for photography won by Robert H. Jackson, Dallas Times Herald, for his photograph of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby.

  11. 1965

    1965: Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting won by Gene Goltz, Houston Post, for exposing governmental corruption in Pasadena, Texas.

  12. Meanwhile in Texas

    1965: San Antonio native Ed White becomes the first American to walk in space.

The Later 1900s

1967–1985

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  1. 1967

    1967: Harold Hudson of Perryton Herald becomes president of TPA. In 1977, becomes president of National Newspaper Association.

  2. 1968
    Meanwhile in Texas

    1968: Astronaut Neil Armstrong transmits the first words from the surface of the moon: “Houston, the Eagle has landed.”

  3. 1971

    1971: Rigby Owen of Conroe Courier elected president of TPA.

  4. 1974

    1974: Lyndell Williams hired as executive director of TPA.

  5. Meanwhile in Texas

    1974: Texas Newspaper Foundation chartered.

  6. 1977

    1977: Bob Hamilton of Iowa Park Leader elected president of TPA.

  7. 1978

    1978: Fred Barbee of El Campo Leader-News elected president of TPA.

  8. 1980

    1980: James Roberts of Andrews News elected president of TPA.

  9. Meanwhile in Texas

    1980: CompuServe dial-up service begins working with 12 Associated Press newspapers.

  10. Meanwhile in Texas

    1980: A commercial videotex service is started by Belo Information Systems, publisher of Dallas Morning News.

  11. 1982

    1982: Pulitzer Prize for cartooning won by Ben Sargent, Austin American-Statesman.

  12. 1983

    1983: William Dean Singleton, then 35 years old, buys Houston Post. In 1986, he adds Dallas Times Herald to 54 papers he owns. Since 2007, chairman of board of directors, The Associated Press.

  13. 1984
    Meanwhile in Texas

    1984: “No pass, no play” rule made part of education-reform package in Texas Legislature.

  14. 1985

    1985: Walter Buckel of Lamesa Press-Reporter elected president of TPA.

Into the 2000s

1987–2008

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  1. 1987

    1987: Roy Eaton of Wise County Messenger elected president of TPA. In 1996, becomes president of National Newspaper Association.

  2. 1988
    Meanwhile in Texas

    1988: Houstonian George H.W. Bush is elected 41st President of the United States.

  3. 1990

    1990: Mary Judson of Port Aransas South Jetty becomes first woman elected president of Texas Press Association.

  4. 1993
    Meanwhile in Texas

    1993: Mosaic web browser introduced. Superseded in 1994 by Netscape Navigator.

  5. 1995

    1995: Sarah Greene, publisher of Gilmer Mirror, elected president of TPA.

  6. Meanwhile in Texas

    1995: Houston Chronicle launches a “new media” website. About 60 North American newspapers have internet or dial-up services.

  7. 1996

    1996: Jerry Tidwell, publisher of Hood County News, elected president of TPA. In 2006, he becomes president of National Newspaper Association.

  8. 1998

    1998: Jeremy Halbreich, former president and general manager of Dallas Morning News, becomes CEO of American Consolidated Media, which owned 40 dailies and weeklies in Texas and Oklahoma when sold in 2007.

  9. 2000

    2000: Alvin Holley, publisher of Polk County Enterprise, elected president of TPA.

  10. Meanwhile in Texas

    2000: Texas Gov. George W. Bush is elected 43rd President of the United States.

  11. 2003

    2003: Willis Webb, publisher of Jasper Newsboy, elected president of TPA.

  12. 2007
    Meanwhile in Texas

    2007: First honorees inducted into Texas Newspaper Hall of Fame.

  13. 2008

    2008: Roy Robinson, publisher of Graham Leader, elected president of TPA.