The Grapevine Sun
Grapevine, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Benjamin R. Wall (1876-1955) started the Grapevine Sun in 1895 at the age of nineteen. It was sold in 1897 to James E. Keeling (1847-1925), a native of England. His son Ed took over as editor in 1912 and published the paper with the help of his wife Grady. The weekly printed mostly encouraging news for its readers. When Ed died in 1953 his daughter Zena Keeling Oxford became editor and her husband Gene was typesetter. The sale of the Sun following her death (1976) ended the family connection which lasted 80 years and spanned three generations. (1980)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Nineteen-year-old Benjamin R. Wall founded the Grapevine Sun in 1895, and two years later sold it to English-born James E. Keeling, beginning an 80-year family newspaper run. Keeling's son Ed edited the weekly with his wife's help from 1912, and after his death in 1953 his daughter Zena Keeling Oxford took the editor's chair while her husband set the type. The paper printed mostly encouraging local news until its 1976 sale ended three generations of family ownership.
Why it matters
The Sun exemplifies the family-run small-town newspaper that knit American communities together, giving generations of readers a shared local voice.
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Related people
- · Benjamin R. Wall
- · James E. Keeling
- · Ed Keeling
- · Zena Keeling Oxford
Themes & tags
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