Victoria Advocate

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The Victoria Advocate. Second oldest existing newspaper in Texas.

Let that sink in a moment, because in a state this old and this proud of its history, that is one serious distinction to carry. The paper was established on May 8, 1846, by Thomas Sterne and John D. Logan.

Two men, one newspaper, and they set something in motion that would outlast just about everything around it. Now, a paper is only as good as the minds that shape its pages, and the Advocate attracted some remarkable ones. Among its editors you find John Henry Brown, Reverend H.S.

Thrall, Victor R. Rose, and Leopold Morris. Historians, every one of them.

Men who understood that writing down the truth of a time is its own kind of work worth doing. But it wasn't only scholars who left their mark on those pages. The Advocate also counted among its editors General William R.

Scurry and General A.P. Bagby, both of military fame. Think about that roster for a second.

Generals and historians, soldiers and scholars, all of them shaping a single paper out of Victoria, Texas. By 1901, George H. French had taken hold as publisher, and the marker makes clear he held that role from 1901 forward.

The State of Texas erected this marker in 1936, a formal nod to a paper that had already proven it wasn't going anywhere. Second oldest existing newspaper in the state. Not the loudest claim, maybe.

Just the kind that endures.

What the marker says

Second oldest existing newspaper in Texas. Established May 8, 1846 by Thomas Sterne --- John D. Logan. Among its editors have been John Henry Brown, Rev. H.S. Thrall, Victor R. Rose, Leopold Morris, historians. Gen. William R. Scurry, Gen. A.P. Bagby of military fame. George H French Publisher since 1901. Erected by the State of Texas 1936