From the printing press to the Internet and beyond, the mission of Texas’ oldest newspaper has changed little since that first edition in 1842: Tell the stories of Galveston County — one day at a time. Telling those stories has kept The Daily News alive and vital over the years. It’s been a long, strange trip, and a wonderful one. Thanks for joining us.
When the first edition of The Daily News appeared April 11, 1842, it attracted little notice. And at the time, it would never have occurred to its founders that the newspaper would still be here today as the oldest continuously published newspaper in Texas.
The front page on April 19, 1842.
The first edition was published by George French from a single story building on Tremont Street in downtown Galveston.
At the time, Texas was an independent republic. Sam Houston was finishing his last term as president. Galveston was a fledgling village of more than 4,000 citizens — and anything that came into Texas from the Gulf of Mexico came through Galveston.
The Daily News, considered to be the dean of all businesses in Texas, has continued to maintain a standard of excellence throughout the years. Published as a weekly, bi-weekly, tri-weekly and finally a daily publication, it is followed in age by the Austin American-Statesman.
The newspaper has a reputation for staying on the cutting edge of technology, from being the first business in Texas to install a telephone to embracing the Internet in early 1990s.
The newspaper founded The Dallas Morning News on Oct. 1, 1885. The Dallas newspaper is considered to be Texas' oldest business institution, due in part to its affiliation with The Daily News.
The old Daily News building, located on Mechanic Street in Galveston. It was the first building in the United States designed solely for a newspaper plant. Today, the building is a residential complex.
During The Civil War, the newspaper was briefly published in Houston. Following
the war, from 1866-1884, The Daily News occupied three floors of an iron-fronted
building in the 2200 block of Market Street in downtown Galveston. And
for more than 80 years, the newspaper occupied a brick structure in the
2100 block of Mechanic Street — the first building in the United States
designed solely for a newspaper plant.
The Daily News moved to its 8522 Teichman Road facility in 1965, where it
is still located today.
The newspaper has been owned by the Moody family of Galveston and, for a period
of time in the 1960s, was owned by Oveta Culp Hobby, whose family also
owned The Houston Post during the same period.
Galveston Newspapers Inc. acquired ownership of The Daily News in 1967. At that
time, Leslie P. Daughtry came to the island as editor and publisher of
the newspaper. During Daughtry's tenure, the newspaper converted to morning
delivery.
Daughtry retired in August 1987 and retained the title of editor and publisher emeritus until his death in 2005. Dolph Tillotson succeeded Daughtry as publisher and president of Galveston Newspapers Inc.
Renamed The Galveston County Daily News on November 1, 1993, the newspaper branched out from its island home and began placing a new emphasis on serving the entire county in which it is based.
The newspaper opened a mainland customer service center in La Marque. The facility would house employees from all departments of the newspaper for more than 10 years and allow The Daily News to better service its customers throughout the county.
The Daily News was among the first papers in the state to begin publishing online, launching its award-winning web edition on Christmas Day 1995 to extend the newspaper's reach far beyond Galveston County.
In November 2004, The Daily News joined with the Texas City Sun. The merger brought together the readership, staffs and advertisers of the two papers under The Galveston County Daily News name. The combined paper now offers the best features of both publications.
The Daily News closed its mainland service center in La Marque with the merger, consolidating all of its mainland operations in the former Texas City Sun building at 7800 Emmett F. Lowry Expressway.
The merger strengthened the newspaper and allowed it to reach more readers than ever in print and online. The combined paper also now offers greater reach and value to its customers.
Patrick Graham succeeded Tillotson as publisher and president of Galveston Newspapers Inc. on Aug. 29, 2011. Tillotson became executive vice president of Southern Newspapers Inc. of Houston and continues to serve as a member of the board of directors of Galveston Newspapers Inc.
The newspaper returned to its original name and became The Daily News again on November 24, 2011. The paper continues to focus on Galveston County and the surrounding areas, telling the area's stories one day at a time.
