Mercedes Enterprise
Mercedes, Hidalgo County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On October 8, 1908, Isadore Moritz published the first issue of the Mercedes Enterprise. He continued the operation until 1914; that same year, Ben E. Brooks and L.T. Hoyt began the Mercedes Tribute. Another paper, the News-Item, started in 1922 and merged with the Tribune seven years later to form the News-Tribune. Paul Netz bought the franchise in 1941 and restored the original name. The newspaper has chronicled major national and international events, as well as community stories. The Enterprise has documented local history through special anniversary editions and has offered printing services, including bilingual publications, to area school districts, businesses and agencies. (2007)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Isadore Moritz launched the Mercedes Enterprise on October 8, 1908, in the young Rio Grande Valley town of Mercedes. Over the following decades the local press evolved through a tangle of competing and merging papers—the Tribune, the News-Item, the News-Tribune—until Paul Netz restored the original Enterprise name in 1941. The paper chronicled community milestones through anniversary editions and offered bilingual printing to area schools, businesses, and agencies.
Why it matters
The Enterprise reflects the vital role of the small-town newspaper as recordkeeper and connective tissue for a bilingual border community over more than a century.
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Related people
- · Isadore Moritz
- · Paul Netz
Themes & tags
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