DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some institutions just quietly show up and get to work — no fanfare, no fuss — and before you know it, they're woven so deep into a place that you can't really tell where the town ends and the paper begins. The Temple Daily Telegram is one of those.
The story actually starts before the Telegram itself. Temple was founded in 1881, and that same year, a paper called the Weekly Times began circulating — the earliest community newspaper in those parts. The Telegram as we know it dates to 1907, but it carries that older thread with it, a connection to the very beginning of the town.
By 1929, the Temple Daily Telegram had grown into something that mattered — an important employer, a real presence. That's the year newspaper executive Ward C. Mayborn and his three sons, Frank W., Don, and Ted, purchased the operation.
Then in 1930, Frank W. Mayborn became the sole owner and publisher, and that's when things got interesting. Under Frank W.
Mayborn's ownership, this paper didn't just print the news. It made some. It won numerous journalistic awards.
It supported and advocated community projects. It sponsored civic events. But here's where the story gets big — and I mean big in the way only Texas can deliver.
Back in the 1930s, the Temple Daily Telegram started pushing for the construction of local reservoirs. Now, you push long enough and loud enough, and eventually the ground moves. That continuing effort eventually led to the construction of Belton Dam on the Leon River — completed in 1954 — and then Stillhouse Hollow Dam on the Lampasas River, finished in 1968.
Municipal water sources that tens of thousands of people depend on. Not bad for a newspaper. And Mayborn and the Telegram weren't done.
They led the way in supporting government projects like Camp Hood — known today as Fort Hood — and McCloskey General Hospital, which became the Olin E. Teague Veterans Hospital. They helped build the Temple Industrial Foundation, which worked to attract new businesses to the area.
They supported U.S. Department of Agriculture facilities putting down roots nearby. Frank W.
Mayborn passed away in 1987, and after his death, his widow became the sole owner and publisher of the Temple Daily Telegram, keeping the enterprise and its mission intact. Today, over a century after its founding, the paper is still out there — still serving, still promoting the greater Temple area. Started with a weekly paper in a brand-new town, grew into a daily that helped shape the reservoirs and the military installations and the economic foundations of a whole region.
That's not just reporting on history. That's participatin' in it.
What the marker says
The Temple Daily Telegram, which dates to 1907, has had a strong historical impact on the development of the area. It has ties to the earliest community newspaper, the Weekly Times, first distributed in 1881, the year of Temple's founding. The Temple Daily Telegram grew and prospered from its inception, and by 1929, when newspaper executive Ward C. Mayborn and his three sons, Frank W., Don and Ted, purchased the operation, it was an important employer in Temple. In 1930, Frank W. Mayborn became the sole owner and publisher. During Frank W. Mayborn's ownership, the Temple Daily Telegram grew to be an influential community institution. It won numerous journalistic awards, supported and advocated community projects and sponsored civic events. In the 1930s, the newspaper pushed for construction of local reservoirs, and that continuing effort eventually led to construction of Belton Dam (1954) on the Leon River, as well as Stillhouse Hollow Dam (1968) on the Lampasas River, ensuring important municipal water sources. Mayborn and the Temple Daily Telegram led the way in other economic activities for the area, including government projects such as Camp Hood (now Fort Hood) and McCloskey General Hospital (now Olin E. Teague Veterans Hospital); the Temple Industrial Foundation, which assisted in attracting new businesses; and U.S. Department of Agriculture facilities. After Frank W. Mayborn's death in 1987, his widow became the sole owner and publisher of the Temple Daily Telegram. Today, over a century after its founding, the newspaper continues to serve and promote the greater Temple area. (2007)