Corsicana Newspapers

Corsicana read widely. The Handbook of Texas names four weekly papers in 1885, the Courier, the Observer, the Messenger and the Journal, and counts twelve newspapers in the city by 1900. On the eve of World War II the Daily Sun was its one daily. The Prairie Blade that started it all survives: the University of North Texas Portal to Texas History holds Blade issues for 1854 to 1857, including Volume 2, Number 11, dated February 29, 1856. The Handbook says the Express gave way to the Observer on the eve of the Civil War.

What the plaque says

Corsicana Newspapers The first newspaper in Navarro County, called the "Prairie Blade," began publication in 1855 and was owned by Dan Donaldson. By 1859 the paper was owned by R. A. Van Horn who changed its name to the "Navarro Express." Paper was in short supply with the coming of the Civil War, and the "Express" was issued only when paper was available. Publications begun in Corsicana in the 1870s and 1880s included the "Odd Fellowship and Literature," the "Texas Observer," a four-sheet journal called the "Corsicana Methodist," and a literary magazine called "The Texas Prairie." The "Corsicana Semi-Weekly Light" first appeared on September 7, 1888. The "Corsicana Daily Sun" began publication March 2, 1895. Both papers were owned by the Sun-Light Publishing Company by 1895. In 1962 the Harte-Hanks Newspaper chain purchased both papers and established the news coverage area as the "Golden Circle," which represented a 30-mile radius of Corsicana. Harte-Hanks built a new facility and sold the "Corsicana Daily Sun" to Worrell Newspapers in 1987. The paper changed owners later in 1987, then in November, 1991, the "Daily Sun" was purchased by the American Publishing Company. (1996)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Petroleum Industry Park — 0.4 mi
  The pipes and drilling tower mark where a city water well struck oil on June 9, 1894, the start of the first Texas field to produce oil and gas in important quantities.
• Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery — 20 mi
  The Freestone County grave of the Texas blues singer Blind Lemon Jefferson, who recorded for Paramount in Chicago from 1926 and died there in December 1929.
• Ellis County Courthouse — 30 mi
  J. Riely Gordon's courthouse of 1897 in Pecos red sandstone and pink granite, with twenty-one carved stone faces and two cornerstones left by a quarrel over its building.

More markers nearby

• The Molloy Hotel — steps away
• Site of Merchants Opera House — steps away
• American Well & Prospecting Company — steps away
• Alexander Beaton — 0.2 mi