The Donna News
Donna, Hidalgo County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1904, T.J. Hooks and A.F. Hester, Sr. founded towns on the StLB&M Rail Line. Railroad president Uriah Lott chose the names of Hooks' daughters for two towns, Donna and Beatrice (East Donna). In 1910, Garland Buck built a two-story brick building at this site for the Donna Developer. It changed hands several times, known also as the Donna Dispatch, the Donna News and the Donna News-Advocate until its run ended in the 1960s. In 1969, the Donna Chamber of Commerce bought the building and later shared it with the Donna Hooks Fletcher Museum, created in 1974. A fire damaged the structure in 1988, but its restoration and use as part of the museum helps preserve the history of the paper and the community it served. (2005)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When T.J. Hooks and A.F. Hester founded towns along the railroad in 1904, line president Uriah Lott named Donna for one of Hooks's daughters. In 1910 Garland Buck built this two-story brick building for the Donna Developer, a newspaper that changed hands and titles — Dispatch, News, News-Advocate — until its run ended in the 1960s. The Donna Chamber of Commerce bought the building in 1969 and later shared it with the Donna Hooks Fletcher Museum, restoring it after a 1988 fire.
Why it matters
The building preserves the story of a small-town newspaper and the museum that now safeguards the memory of the community it chronicled.
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Related people
- · T.J. Hooks
- · A.F. Hester, Sr.
- · Uriah Lott
- · Donna Hooks Fletcher
Themes & tags
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