DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm happy to pass it along. You know, some newspapers just happen. But the Goliad Advance-Guard, well, that one took a little longer to find itself.
It came together from two separate papers, running on two separate tracks, across nearly half a century. Let's start at the beginning. Back in 1867, a man named Richard Wayne Davis bought a paper called the Intelligencer.
He didn't keep the name. He changed it to the Guard, and just like that, Goliad had a new voice. The Davis family wasn't done yet.
Richard's son, R. T. Davis, stepped in and published the Guard from 1871 all the way until 1892.
That's a long run for any family in any business, and the Guard kept on going. Now, while all that history was accumulating over at the Guard, something else was stirring. In 1905, a young editor came up from Mississippi, a fellow named J.
A. White, and he started a second weekly paper, the Advance. Two papers in one county, both telling the news, both serving their readers.
Then, eight years after White launched the Advance, the two weekly publications were combined. The Guard and the Advance came together and became the Goliad Advance-Guard. Correspondents from all parts of the county have served as local reporters, keeping the paper connected to the people it covers.
And here's the part that lands the story just right. The Advance-Guard is still there, still supplying residents with the news of the county. Sometimes two roads really do lead to the same place.
What the marker says
The "Goliad Advance-Guard" was created by the merger of two newspapers. The "Guard" began in 1867, when Richard Wayne Davis bought the "Intelligencer" and changed its name. His son, R. T. Davis, published the paper from 1871 until 1892. A young editor from Mississippi, J. A. White, began the "Advance" in 1905. Eight years later, the two weekly publications were combined to become the "Goliad Advance-Guard." Correspondents from all parts of the county have served as local reporters. The "Advance-Guard" continues to supply residents with news of the county. (1985)