Details for Abilene Reporter-News

Historical Marker — Atlas Number 5441000072

Data

Marker Number 72
Atlas Number 5441000072
Marker Title Abilene Reporter-News
Index Entry Abilene Reporter-News
Address Cypress & N. 1st St.
City Abilene
County Taylor
UTM Zone 14
UTM Easting 431011
UTM Northing 3590533
Subject Codes newspapers
Marker Year 1981
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark No
Marker Location NE corner of Cypress and N. 1st Streets - Abilene (marker is inside first floor lobby of building, visible from outside through window)
Private Property No
Marker Condition In Situ
Marker Size 27" x 42"
Marker Text The oldest existing business institution in Abilene is the Reporter Publishing Company, started by C. E. Gilbert. The first newspaper was printed on June 17, 1881, three months after the town was founded. Soon after Gilbert began publication, a fire destroyed several buildings in town, including his office. He rode the train to Baird (21 miles east) and, using borrowed presses, published an "extra" edition about the blaze. Two other Abilene papers were started in the 1880s. Part-time preacher W. L. Gibbs began the "Magnetic Quill" in 1882. Three years later Gilbert's printer, James L. Lowry, began the "Taylor County News." One of Lowry's early editions covered a duel between Gilbert and Gibbs, both of whom survived. Later "Reporter" owners were Dr. Alf H. H. Toler, John Hoeny, Jr., George S. Anderson, and Marshall Bernard Hanks, a former delivery boy for the paper who was publisher from 1906 to 1948. In 1911 the "Reporter" bought the "News," resulting in the present name. Hanks and Houston Harte of San Angelo formed the Harte-Hanks organization, now a national communications firm, which includes the "Reporter-News," whose motto is: "Without or with offense to friends or foes we sketch your world exactly as it goes." -Byron.

Location Map

View this record in full map (opens in new tab/window)