The Panola Watchman
Carthage, Panola County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Tom M. Bowers (1837-1916) printed the first issue of the Watchman on July 2, 1873. He had published the Carthage Banner here from 1859 until he left about 1861 to serve in the Confederate army. Type was handset, and news items came from other publications and letters to the editor. Following Bowers' ownership, the paper was headed by three state representatives-- T. E. Boren, Jasper Collins, and O. P. Carswell-- between 1884 and 1906. R. M. Park added a linotype machine in 1915. In 1971 the publishers converted to offset, sending printing to Marshall. In 1984 the first offset press was installed. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Tom M. Bowers printed the first issue of the Panola Watchman in Carthage on July 2, 1873, having earlier run the Carthage Banner before leaving to serve in the Confederate army. In its early years the paper was set by hand, its news drawn from other publications and readers' letters, and it later passed through a series of owners who were state representatives. Over the following century it modernized from linotype to offset printing.
Why it matters
Small-town newspapers like the Watchman were the connective tissue of frontier communities, and their long survival records more than a century of local life and technological change.
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Related people
- · Tom M. Bowers
- · T. E. Boren
- · Jasper Collins
- · O. P. Carswell
- · R. M. Park
Themes & tags
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