A. H. Belo Corporation

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna let it breathe a little. We're talkin' about the A.H. Belo Corporation, out of Dallas County.

Small company, big shadow. It all starts with a newspaper born on April 11, 1842: the Galveston Daily News. That's the root, right there, older than a lot of things folks think of as old in Texas.

And before long, that same company was publishin' the Texas Almanac, starting in 1857. That's not just news; that's the kind of publication that tells you who you are, where you came from, what the land is doin'. Then along comes Alfred Horatio Belo.

Born 1839, gone 1901, and in between those two years, the man made his mark. He bought the company in 1876, and nine years later he founded the Dallas Morning News. Now here's where it gets interesting: Belo didn't try to do everything himself.

He entrusted that new paper to a man named G.B. Dealey, born 1859 and still going strong until 1946. You don't hand something you care about to just anybody.

The company kept growin', kept reachin', until 1923, when it sold the Galveston paper and moved its headquarters to Dallas. From there, it didn't stop at ink and paper. It diversified into radio and television, including WFAA-TV.

One small company that started with a single newspaper in Galveston, and it just kept expandin' its voice. The marker says it plainly: since its founding, the A.H. Belo Corporation has played a major role in Texas communications.

And when you trace that line from April 11, 1842, all the way forward, you start to understand that some roots run a whole lot deeper than they look.

What the marker says

A.H. Belo Corporation traces its roots to a small company that founded the Galveston "Daily News" on April 11, 1842. The company began publishing the "Texas Almanac" in 1857. Alfred Horatio Belo (1839-1901) bought the company in 1876 and founded the "Dallas Morning News" in 1885, entrusting it to G.B. Dealey (1859-1946). In 1923, the company sold the Galveston paper and moved its headquarters to Dallas. The company later diversified into radio and television, including WFAA-TV. Since its founding, the A.H. Belo Corporation has played a major role in Texas communications.