The San Angelo Standard
San Angelo, Tom Green County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1884 J. G. Murphy and W. A. Guthrie, co-workers at the "San Angelo Enterprise", bought the weekly newspaper operation and began the "Standard". The first four-page edition was published on May 3 of that year. Early stories included coverage of frontier scalpings and the life of the Fort Concho soldier. The "Standard" became an eight-page newspaper within six months and continued as a weekly until 1905, when the first issue of the "Evening Daily Standard" appeared. The newspaper and its leaders have played major roles in the development of San Angelo and surrounding areas
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1884, two former employees of the San Angelo Enterprise, J. G. Murphy and W. A. Guthrie, bought a weekly paper and launched the Standard, printing its first four-page edition that May. Its early columns mixed frontier violence with the daily life of soldiers at nearby Fort Concho, a reminder that West Texas was still raw country. Within six months it doubled in size, and by 1905 it had grown into a daily paper that chronicled the rise of San Angelo.
Why it matters
Frontier newspapers stitched isolated Western towns into the national conversation, and the Standard's long run mirrors San Angelo's own growth from a garrison town into a regional hub.
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Related people
- · J. G. Murphy
- · W. A. Guthrie
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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