DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker for The Rusk Cherokeean is what I'm drawing from here, so let's see what it has to say. Now, every good story has a beginning, and this one starts the way a lot of Texas stories do — with something that didn't quite stick. The first newspaper in Rusk was called the Rusk Pioneer.
It came along in 1848, stuck around for less than a year, and then packed up and moved to Palestine. Gone just like that. You'd be forgiven for thinking Rusk might not be a newspaper town.
You would be wrong. Because on February 27, 1850, the Cherokee Sentinel published its first issue. And that paper — that one right there — is where the story of the Cherokeean/Herald actually begins.
That's the root of the whole tree. After the Civil War, the weekly changed its name to the Texas Observer. Now here's where you lean in a little, because it was at that very paper, working as a typesetter, that a young man named James Stephen Hogg got his start in the newspaper business.
James Stephen Hogg, who would go on to become Texas' first native governor. He set type. Right there in Rusk.
Before anyone knew who he was going to be. The paper kept going — changing names, consolidating, shifting — but it never stopped running. Through all of it, some notable people held the publisher's chair.
Samuel A. Willson, a judge of some standing, was appointed by Governor Richard Coke to help codify the laws of Texas under the 1876 Constitution. John Benjamin Long served as a U.S.
Congressman, a state legislator, and the mayor of Rusk — and he published this paper too. State representative Wallace M. Ellis was among them as well.
Generation after generation, publishers and editors kept the citizens of Rusk and Cherokee County informed of what was happening in their world. In 1919, the Rusk Cherokeean published its very first issue. Four years later, in 1923, it purchased the Press Journal — itself a successor to that original Cherokee Sentinel — and folded that history right into its own.
By 1959, the name was trimmed down to simply the Cherokeean. Then in 1989, a merger with the Alto Herald gave it the name it carries today: the Cherokeean/Herald. And the supplemental plate on this marker tells you something else worth knowing.
On June 1, 1950, Emmett and Marie Whitehead bought the paper from Frank and Marie Main. The Whitehead family has owned it ever since. At the dawn of the 21st century, this publication could lay claim to being the oldest, continuously operated, weekly newspaper in the state of Texas.
Started from near nothing, outlasting rivals and name changes and eras entire, still running in Cherokee County. Some things in Texas, once they take root, just refuse to quit.
What the marker says
The first newspaper in Rusk was the short-lived Rusk Pioneer, which began in 1848 and moved to Palestine the following year. On February 27, 1850, the first issue of the Cherokee Sentinel was published. This is the publication to which the current Cherokeean/Herald can trace its origin. After the Civil War, the name of the weekly paper was changed to the Texas Observer, and it was at this paper, as a typesetter, that Texas' first native governor, James Stephen Hogg, began his work in the newspaper business. This weekly publication underwent a series of name changes and consolidations over the years but remained in continuous operation. Among its significant publishers have been: Samuel A. Willson, a noted judge, who was appointed by Governor Richard Coke to help codify the laws of Texas under the 1876 Constitution; John Benjamin Long, a U.S. Congressman, state legislator and mayor of Rusk; and state representative Wallace M. Ellis. They and other publishers and editors have kept the citizens of Rusk and Cherokee County informed of news and events throughout the years. The Rusk Cherokeean published its first issue in 1919 and purchased the Press Journal (a successor to the Cherokee Sentinel) in 1923. In 1959, the paper's name was shortened to the Cherokeean. It has been known as the Cherokeean/Herald since a merger with the Alto Herald in 1989. At the beginning of the 21st century, the publication could lay claim as the oldest, continuously operated, weekly newspaper in Texas. (2001) Text of supplemental plate: June 1, 1950, Emmett and Marie Whitehead bought this newspaper from Frank and Marie Main. They and their family have owned it since.