DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Cross Plains Review. Now settle in, because this story starts before the town even knew where it was going to land. Belmont L.
Shields founded the Cross Plains Review in April 1909, back when the town was sited on Turkey Creek. And here's the thing about Shields: he wanted that newspaper up and running before the railroad came to town. He wanted to get there first.
Well, the Texas Central arrived in 1912, and when it did, most businesses and homes picked up and moved one mile to the new townsite. The town itself relocated. But the Review?
The Review kept printing. After publishing for five years, Shields sold the paper to L. P.
Henslee. Henslee ran it until 1921, when he sold the business to three local merchants. And from there, the Review just kept on keeping on.
It recorded community development, witnessed the death of writer Robert E. Howard, covered the 2005 wildfires, and marked the town's 100th anniversary. The hard things and the proud things, all of it down in ink.
The marker calls the Review the oldest business in Cross Plains, intertwined with the history of the community. A town that once moved a whole mile down the road, and the newspaper was already there waiting when it arrived.
What the marker says
Belmont L. Shields founded the Cross Plains Review in April 1909, when the town was sited on Turkey Creek. He wanted the newspaper established before the railroad came to town, which occurred when the Texas central arrived in 1912 and most businesses and homes moved one mile to the new townsite. After publishing for five years, shields sold the paper to L. P. Henslee, who in 1921 sold the business to three local merchants. The Review has been an important resource for citizens and a unique chronicle, recording community development and such events as the death of writer Robert E. Howard, the 2005 wildfires, and the town’s 100th anniversary. As the oldest business in cross plains, the Review is intertwined with the history of the community.