Ector County Newspapers
Odessa, Ector County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1895, William C. "Uncle Billy" griffin came to Odessa from Midland and began publishing Ector County's first Newspaper, the Odessa "weekly news'. The "weekly news" lasted only a year, and was followed by six other short-lived weekly publications until Agu. 1927, when production of Odessa "times" and Odessa "news" began. In Oct. 1928, the two weekly papers were merged as the Odessa "news-times". The towns of penwell and Goldsmith supported for a short time, during the oil boom of the 1930s, the only Ector County newspapers known to have been published outside of Odessa. The first daily newspaper, the "daily bulletin", began in 1936. The "news-times" followed with a daily in 1937. On Oct. 2, 1940, R. Henderson shuffler consolidated the "daily bulletin" and the "news-time" into the Odessa "Amerinca", which he sold on Aug. 11, 1945. Ownership of the newspaper changed twice before Aug. 13, 1948, when it was purchased by Raymond Cyrus Hoiles of freedom newspapers, Inc. V. L. Debolt was appointed publisher and has held that position for 26 years. The Odessa "American" has withstood brief competition from 5 newspapers since its first publication and has been published at this site since 1951.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Odessa's newspaper history began in 1895, when William C. 'Uncle Billy' Griffin launched Ector County's first paper, the Weekly News. A string of short-lived weeklies followed until the late 1920s, when the papers that would become the Odessa American took shape through a series of mergers. Consolidated in 1940 and sold several times, the American outlasted its many competitors and has been published from this site since 1951.
Why it matters
The winding history of Odessa's press mirrors the boom-and-bust growth of a West Texas oil town, told through the newspapers that chronicled it.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
When the first newspaper appeared in Odessa in 1895, the town was a tiny railroad stop on the West Texas plains, surrounded by ranch country and few people. A newspaper in a place like that was an act of optimism. It needed enough readers and advertisers to survive, and for decades Odessa often did not have them.
Everything changed with oil. Beginning in the late 1920s, discoveries across the Permian Basin brought a rush of workers, money and new towns to the region. Ector County was transformed almost overnight, and small boomtowns such as Penwell and Goldsmith sprang up around the new fields.
That boom-and-bust rhythm shaped the local press. Papers rose and fell, merged and changed hands, mirroring the fortunes of the communities they served. The history of Odessa's newspapers is in many ways the history of Odessa itself.
People & events
The story begins with William C. "Uncle Billy" Griffin, who came over from Midland in 1895 and started the Odessa Weekly News, Ector County's first newspaper. It lasted only about a year. Six more short-lived weeklies followed, each one a reminder of how hard it was to keep a press running in a small frontier town.
In 1927 the Odessa Times and the Odessa News began publishing, and the next year they merged into the News-Times. During the oil boom of the 1930s, Penwell and Goldsmith briefly had papers of their own, the only Ector County newspapers known to have been published outside Odessa. Daily papers arrived in the mid-1930s: first the Daily Bulletin, then a daily edition of the News-Times.
In 1940 R. Henderson Shuffler combined those rival dailies into the Odessa American, which he sold in 1945. After two more changes in ownership, Raymond Cyrus Hoiles of Freedom Newspapers bought the paper in 1948. V. L. DeBolt became publisher and held that role for decades. The American outlasted several challengers and has been printed at this site since 1951.
Its place in the American story
For much of American history, local newspapers were how towns understood themselves. They recorded births, deaths, land sales, oil strikes and elections, and Odessa's string of papers is a typical example of how the local press grew alongside a frontier community.
The Odessa American's history also reflects a broader twentieth-century trend: local newspapers consolidating and passing into regional or national chains. Freedom Newspapers, led by R. C. Hoiles, was known for the strongly individualist, free-market views of its owner, and its purchase of the American linked this West Texas paper to a larger publishing group.
Finally, the boomtown papers of Penwell and Goldsmith show how the oil industry built communities fast and sometimes let them fade just as fast. Their brief presses are a small but telling record of an industry that reshaped Texas and the nation's energy supply.
If you visit
The marker stands in Odessa at the longtime home of the Odessa American. It is a working city stop rather than a scenic one, but it is a good place to think about how much of a town's memory lives in its newspaper archives.
Combine it with a broader look at Permian Basin history. Driving the highways around Odessa, past pump jacks and oil field infrastructure, helps you understand the boom that turned a quiet railroad stop into a city big enough to support a daily paper.
If you are curious about the small boomtowns the marker mentions, Penwell and Goldsmith are out in the oil fields of Ector County. They are reminders of how quickly the boom built communities, and how few of the newspapers that covered them survived.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · William C. Griffin
- · R. Henderson Shuffler
- · Raymond Cyrus Hoiles
Themes & tags
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