The Victoria Advocate
Victoria, Victoria County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The second oldest newspaper in continuous operation in Texas, the "Victoria Advocate" began as the weekly "Texan Advocate" in 1846. The first issue was published on May 8, 1846, the same day as the Battle of Palo Alto, first battle in the Mexican War. An extra edition was printed to inform local citizens of the event. The newspaper's first publishers were Thomas Sterne (1818-1906) and John Davis Logan (1818-1878), both experienced newspapermen. They changed the name of the paper in its first year to the "Texian Advocate" in response to requests from early Texas pioneers. Sterne and Logan sold the newspaper in 1853. Both became ranchers, and Logan later operated the "Daily Herald" newspaper in San Antonio. Later editors and publishers included Sam Addison White, Victor Marion Rose, Frank R. Pridham, Edward Daniel Linn, John L. Bartow, Louis Nicholas Hofer, and James McDonald. It was during White's ownership that the newspaper was renamed the "Victoria Advocate" between 1859 and 1861. McDonald introduced the "Daily Advocate" in 1897. Both daily and weekly editions were published until 1943. Growing with the city, the "Advocate" has served the citizens of Victoria for well over a century. (1989)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Victoria Advocate began in 1846 as the weekly Texan Advocate, its first issue printed on May 8—the very day of the Battle of Palo Alto, the opening fight of the Mexican War—prompting a special extra edition. Founded by experienced newspapermen Thomas Sterne and John Davis Logan, it changed names several times before becoming the Victoria Advocate around 1859–61 and adding a daily edition in 1897. It is the second-oldest continuously operating newspaper in Texas.
Why it matters
A frontier newspaper that has published for well over a century is a living record of American community life and the free press's role in the settling West.
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Related people
- · Thomas Sterne
- · John Davis Logan
- · Sam Addison White
Related events
- · Battle of Palo Alto
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Victoria Advocate
Victoria, TX
Established on May 8, 1846, just as Texas entered the Union, the Victoria Advocate became the second-oldest surviving newspaper in the state. Its early editors and contributors included noted historians and Confederate generals William R. Scurry and A. P. Bagby, reflecting the paper's deep ties to Texas civic and military life. George H. French took over as publisher in 1901, continuing a journalistic tradition that had already endured more than half a century.
Old Federal Building
Victoria, TX
This Italian Renaissance Revival building went up in 1911–13 to serve as Victoria's United States Post Office and Federal Courthouse, built by San Antonio contractor Otto P. Kroeger and Company under supervising architect James Knox Taylor. Federal offices worked here until 1961, and four years later the building became headquarters for the regional Frels Theatres chain. Its dignified design reflects the Progressive-era era of monumental federal architecture in county seats.
Hauschild Opera House
Victoria, TX
German immigrant George Herman Hauschild came to Victoria after his 1866 marriage and, having built a prominent business, opened an opera house here in 1894. Occupying the top two floors above the family's music store, the theatre hosted vaudeville, plays, and silent films under the management of his son H.J. Hauschild. As "talking pictures" won over audiences, the opera house closed during the 1930s.
Brownson's Bank
Victoria, TX
John Milton Brownson, a Confederate veteran raised in nearby DeWitt County, opened a grocery in Victoria in 1866 and the next year founded the town's first bank in a modest frame building on Main Street. Through a string of partnerships and reorganizations it grew into the First National Bank of Victoria in 1889, with Brownson as its first president, and carried on under later names as a pillar of the local economy for generations.