The Athens Review
Athens, Henderson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
"The Athens Review" was established as a weekly newspaper by J. B. Bishop and George M. Johnson, editors and owners on Dec. 24, 1885. The earliest newspaper in Henderson County, "The Athens Bulletin," had been founded by printer J. H. Cox and Professor J. E. Thomas in 1873, 23 years after the present boundaries of Henderson County were established. It operated for about two years. Equipment owned by "The Athenian" from 1883 through early 1885 was used to print the first issue of "The Athens Review," a six-column, four-page publication with a subscription price of $1.50 a year. In 1886, the paper was bought by William Dixon Bell, a 19-year-old Waco printer, who sold it to J. H. Walford in 1888. Col. R. E. Yantis of Van Zandt County bought it in 1900 and in 1901 published the first issue of "The Athens Daily Review" on June 20. Both newspapers have continued in operation since that time. Throughout its history, "The Athens Review" has served the area as a community newspaper, encouraging community spirit and supporting projects of benefit to the area. Devoted to the development and progress of Athens and Henderson County and their people, the newspaper has been an important element in the area's heritage.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1885 by editors J. B. Bishop and George M. Johnson, "The Athens Review" grew out of the printing equipment of earlier short-lived Henderson County papers reaching back to the 1870s. Passing through a string of owners—including a 19-year-old Waco printer and, later, a Van Zandt County colonel who launched the daily edition in 1901—the paper became a durable community institution. For well over a century it chronicled and championed the growth of Athens and the surrounding county.
Why it matters
Local newspapers like this one were the connective tissue of small-town America, recording daily life and rallying communities behind civic progress in an era before mass media.
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Related people
- · J. B. Bishop
- · George M. Johnson
- · William Dixon Bell
Themes & tags
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