Kerrville Mountain Sun
Kerrville, Kerr County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The "Kerrville Mountain Sun" can trace its history to an 1870s publication known as "The Frontiersman." Later called "The News," "The Eye," and "The Paper," the "Mountain Sun" was given its current name by J. E. Grinstead after he purchased the newspaper in 1898. An adventurer, writer, and early photographer, Grinstead sold the "Mountain Sun" in 1917. In 1919 it came under the full ownership of brothers W. A. and Clarence Salter. Over the years, the "Kerrville Mountain Sun" has provided a significant service to the citizens of Kerrville. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986 Incise on base: Wife, son, grandson of W. A. Salter have continued ownership
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Kerrville Mountain Sun traces its lineage to an 1870s frontier paper called The Frontiersman, which passed through several names before J. E. Grinstead—an adventurer, writer, and early photographer—gave it its enduring title after buying the paper in 1898. Grinstead sold the paper in 1917, and by 1919 it came under the full ownership of brothers W. A. and Clarence Salter. The Salter family continued to run the paper across later generations.
Why it matters
As one of the Texas Hill Country's longest-running newspapers, the Mountain Sun shows how a local press could chronicle and knit together a community for well over a century.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
The Texas Hill Country in the 1870s was still a frontier. It was a land of limestone hills, clear rivers and small settlements along the Guadalupe River. Kerrville was a young town, and communities like it depended on a local newspaper to share news, advertise goods and give the town a public voice.
Frontier newspapers were often small, fragile operations. They changed hands, changed names and sometimes vanished altogether. A paper that survived did so because a succession of owners kept the presses running through hard times.
Over the next century the Hill Country changed a great deal. Railroads arrived, ranching and trade grew, and the region's scenery and climate began drawing visitors and new residents. Through it all, the local paper recorded the story as it unfolded.
People & events
The Kerrville Mountain Sun traces its beginnings to an 1870s paper called The Frontiersman, a name that fit its era perfectly. Over the years it went by several other names: The News, The Eye and, simply, The Paper. The shifting titles show how unsettled small-town publishing could be.
In 1898 the paper was bought by J. E. Grinstead, a colorful figure. He was an adventurer, a writer and an early photographer, and he gave the paper the name it has carried ever since: the Mountain Sun. He ran it for nearly two decades before selling it in 1917.
In 1919 the paper came under the full ownership of two brothers, W. A. and Clarence Salter. It became a family enterprise: an inscription on the marker's base notes that W. A. Salter's wife, son and grandson carried the ownership forward. For generations, the same family kept Kerrville's news in print.
Its place in the American story
Across America, small-town newspapers have been one of the quiet foundations of community life. They recorded births, deaths, elections, local business and everyday events. That's why historians, genealogists and families still turn to their old pages to reconstruct the past.
The Mountain Sun's long run, from a frontier sheet to a paper owned by one family across generations, is an example of how local journalism has tied communities together. Many small papers never lasted this long, which makes the survivors all the more valuable as records of their towns.
The marker was placed in 1986 for the Texas Sesquicentennial, the 150th anniversary of Texas independence. Its choice of a newspaper shows that Texans saw local institutions like this as part of the state's heritage, alongside battles and famous leaders.
If you visit
The marker is a good invitation to think about the newspaper as a character in Kerrville's story. As you explore downtown, imagine the town through the eyes of the people who reported on it week after week, from frontier days through the twentieth century.
Kerrville is one of the Hill Country's favorite destinations, set along the Guadalupe River among rolling, cedar-covered hills. It's easy to combine this stop with a riverside walk, a look at the historic downtown and drives to nearby Hill Country towns.
If you enjoy local history, consider looking for old issues of the paper in regional libraries or archives. They're one of the best windows into what everyday life in the Hill Country really felt like.
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
- · J. E. Grinstead
- · W. A. Salter
- · Clarence Salter
Themes & tags
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