Staked Plains
Midland, Midland County, Texas
Marker Inscription
First newspaper published in Midland County. Printed in 1885 in frame building once on this site. Copies were hand-set and hand printed at rate of 5 per hour on old-style press. County court proceedings were printed at .75 cent per square inch. J. C. Rathbun was editor and publisher. (1970)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Staked Plains was the first newspaper published in Midland County, printed in 1885 from a frame building on this site. Each copy was hand-set and hand-printed on an old-style press at a rate of about five per hour, and the paper carried county court proceedings at three-quarters of a cent per square inch. J.C. Rathbun served as its editor and publisher.
Why it matters
A frontier newspaper was often the first sign that a raw settlement meant to become a real town, giving West Texas a voice and a public record of its own.
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Related people
- · J.C. Rathbun
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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