Hopkins County Echo-Daily News-Telegram

Papers like these are often the only record of Hopkins County's violence. A county genealogist who catalogued its lynchings writes that clippings are sometimes the sole proof the victims lived, and that an unnamed Sulphur Springs Gazette editor was roughed up for pleading for trials. One clipping, from the Wichita Daily Times of August 30, 1915, reports a mob burning brothers King and Joe Richmond on August 29 after Deputy N. A. Flippen was shot dead and Sheriff J. B. Butler wounded. The Handbook of Texas puts the Texas Star at Tarrant about 1850.

What the plaque says

Hopkins County Echo-Daily News-Telegram Deed records indidcate that a newspaper was being published in Hopkins County as early as 1854. It was known as the "Texas Star" and was located in Tarrant, which then served as county seat. In 1855, the printing presses were purchased by William Wortham, who moved the equipment to Bright Star (later Sulphur Springs) and founded a paper he called the "Independent Frontier." In 1864, Wortham renamed it the "Sulphur Springs Gazette" and retained ownership until 1898. The "Echo" was founded by Ezra Tate in 1878 as a competitor to the "Gazette." During its 39-year ownership by the Tate family, the "Echo" acquired two other local publications, the "Evening News" and the "Morning Telegram." The Tate family merged these newspapers into the "Daily News-Telegram," while also maintaining the weekly "Echo." During 1917, the Bagwell Company gained ownership of the "Echo." The "News-Telegram," "Daily Gazette," and "Weekly Gazette" were later purchased and formed into one daily publication known as the "Daily News-Telegram." The "Echo" was maintained as a weekly. A central printing company, Echo Publishing Co., purchased the publications in 1951. (1986)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Cooper Lake State Park — 15 mi
  Two units on Jim Chapman Lake, a Corps reservoir proposed in the late 1930s, stalled by a lawsuit until 1984 and dedicated in 1991, with a 10.5-mile equestrian trail and wildlife land around it.

More markers nearby

• First United Methodist Church of Sulphur Springs — steps away
• Sulphur Springs Loan and Building Association — steps away
• City National Bank — steps away
• General W. H. King — steps away