Galveston County Daily News

About Galveston County Daily News

The Daily News, formerly published as the Galveston County Daily News and the Galveston Daily News, is a daily newspaper based in Galveston, Texas. First published on April 11, 1842, it is the oldest newspaper in the state of Texas. Owned by Galveston Newspapers Inc. and the Carmage B. Walls family through Southern Newspapers Inc., it is published at galvnews.com.

The newspaper serves as the newspaper of record for the City of Galveston as well as Galveston County. Its history is closely associated with the history of Texas itself, from the Republic era through the Civil War, the 1900 Storm, and the modern age.

Founding in the Republic of Texas

The first edition of The Daily News was published on April 11, 1842, by George French in a small downtown office on Tremont Street in Galveston. Texas was an independent republic at the time, and Sam Houston was finishing his last term as president of the Republic of Texas. Galveston was a small village of about 4,000 people through which all imports from the Gulf of Mexico into Texas passed.

The newspaper's founding during the Republic era gives it a unique place in Texas journalism history. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the state, predating Texas statehood by nearly four years.

The Civil War years

During the Civil War, The Daily News was briefly published from outside Galveston because the city was occupied by Union forces. By 1866, the newspaper had returned to the island city. The paper's ability to maintain publication through the war years and the occupation demonstrated the resilience that would characterize its long history.

The post-war decades brought new ownership and ambition. Alfred Horatio Belo joined the staff in 1865 and purchased the paper in 1875, beginning one of the most significant eras in the newspaper's history.

The Belo era and the Dallas Morning News

Under Belo's ownership, The Daily News expanded its influence across Texas. On October 1, 1885, the newspaper founded The Dallas Morning News as a sister publication. The Dallas paper went on to become one of the major metropolitan dailies of the American South, while the Galveston paper is considered Texas' oldest business institution through that founding.

Belo's leadership established the Daily News as a powerful voice in Texas journalism. The paper's reach extended well beyond Galveston, and its editorial positions carried weight in state politics and commerce during the late nineteenth century.

The Great Storm of 1900

The Great Storm of September 8, 1900, during which approximately 6,000 Galvestonians died, remains the nation's deadliest natural disaster and is among the most important stories ever covered by the Daily News. Among the dead were 90 children and 10 sisters from St. Mary's Orphans Asylum in Galveston.

In the aftermath, reporters described a city nearly wiped clean, with few remaining buildings, of citizens being conscripted to help collect the dead, and of personal recollections of a night of horror. An 1891 typewriter used by compositor R. B. Spangler survived the storm and has been preserved as an artifact of the newspaper's history. The paper's coverage of the storm stands as one of the landmark achievements of Texas journalism.

The Moody years

In 1923, William Lewis Moody Jr., a prominent Galveston banker and insurance man, purchased the paper from Belo. The Moody family's ownership connected the newspaper to one of the most influential business families in Texas history. Under Moody ownership, the paper continued to serve as Galveston County's dominant daily.

The Moody Foundation sold the paper to William P. Hobby in 1963. Hobby, a former governor of Texas and owner of the Beaumont Enterprise, held the paper until June 1967, when Galveston Newspapers Inc. purchased it.

Galveston Newspapers Inc.

When Galveston Newspapers Inc. acquired the paper in June 1967, it changed The News to a daily morning format. The newspaper moved to its current location at 8522 Teichman Road in 1965, where its offices remain today. The building at 2100 Mechanic Street, which the paper had occupied for more than 80 years, was the first building in the United States designed solely as a newspaper plant.

The paper was renamed The Galveston County Daily News on November 1, 1993, when it began serving the entire county. On Christmas Day 1995, the paper made its online debut, one of the first newspapers in Texas to provide both print and digital editions. In November 2011, the paper dropped the "Galveston County" moniker and returned to its original name, The Daily News.

The Texas City Sun merger

In November 2004, The Daily News absorbed the Texas City Sun, a smaller sister publication founded in 1912 and based in Texas City. The Sun published its final edition on a Saturday, and the combined paper debuted as The Galveston County Daily News with its Sunday edition on November 7, 2004.

The merger combined the circulation, staffs, and advertisers of the two papers, creating a larger daily product with an expanded news hole. Company officials said virtually all of the long-term, full-time employees of both papers remained with the unified newspaper.

Awards and recognition

The Daily News has won many first-place awards from the Associated Press and the Texas Press Association, recognizing its reporting in categories including breaking news, editorial writing, headline writing, and general excellence. The awards reflect the newspaper's continued commitment to quality journalism in a mid-sized market.

As of 2023, the newspaper's circulation is reported at 16,171. The publisher is Michelle Robinson, the editor is Michael A. Smith, and the managing editor is Laura Elder.

Current ownership and role

The Daily News is published by Galveston Newspapers Inc. and owned by the Carmage B. Walls family, which also operates the Houston-based media group Southern Newspapers Inc. The Daily News is Southern Newspapers' flagship publication.

As the newspaper of record for the City of Galveston and Galveston County, the paper covers island and county government, the Port of Galveston, tourism, the University of Texas Medical Branch, and the coastal communities of the county. Its archives, stretching back to 1842, constitute one of the most important documentary records of Texas history.

The Mechanic Street plant

For more than eighty years, the Daily News occupied a brick structure in the 2100 block of Mechanic Street in Galveston. The building was the first building in the United States designed solely as a newspaper plant, a distinction that reflected the paper's prominence in nineteenth and early twentieth-century American journalism.

In 1965, the newspaper moved to its current location at 8522 Teichman Road, where its Galveston offices remain today. The move from downtown to the Teichman Road facility coincided with the paper's transition under Galveston Newspapers Inc. ownership and its conversion to morning delivery. The Mechanic Street building stands as a landmark of Galveston's commercial history and of the newspaper's long presence on the island.

On Christmas Day 1995, the Daily News made its online debut, becoming one of the first newspapers in Texas to provide both print and digital editions. The early move onto the internet reflected the paper's willingness to adapt its 150-year-old franchise to new technology.

The paper's website, galvnews.com, now serves as its digital home, carrying local news, obituaries, and community information for Galveston County. The newspaper's archives, stretching back to the first edition of April 11, 1842, are available through newspaper archive services, offering researchers and genealogists access to more than 180 years of Texas history.