The Clarendon News
Clarendon, Donley County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Clarendon News The town of Clarendon began with an effort led by the Rev. Lewis H. Carhart as he strived to create a colony based on Christianity, temperance and education. To promote the settlement, he created The Clarendon News, publishing the first issue in June 1878, the same year the first colonists arrived. The News was the first newspaper in the Panhandle. Since its first printing, it has changed owners and names many times but has always provided local news coverage and community interest pieces. As the community grew, printing methods changed from hand-set type to 21st-century computer innovations. The newspaper's long, continuous run is a tribute to Carhart and the many pioneer journalists who followed him. (2003)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Clarendon began as the Rev. Lewis H. Carhart's dream of a colony grounded in Christianity, temperance, and education, and to promote it he launched The Clarendon News in June 1878—the very year the first colonists arrived. It was the first newspaper in the Texas Panhandle. Through many changes of name and owner, and from hand-set type to modern computers, it has never stopped chronicling its community.
Why it matters
As the Panhandle's first newspaper, it embodies the press's role in willing frontier towns into being and holding scattered settlers together as a community.
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Related people
- · Rev. Lewis H. Carhart
Themes & tags
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