Old News

No news is good news
Old news is amusing

Old News Gleaned from the Gonzales Inquirer - 1900

Old News Gleaned from the Brenham Banner-Press

Old News Gleaned from the Bastrop Advertiser

Runaway Horse is Page 1 Story by Michael Barr 11-22-22

A Disturbance on Creek Street by Michael Barr 9-1-22
Arrested for carrying a pistol unlawfully

The News in 1920 by Michael Barr 11-15-20

The Great Greyhound Hijacking on Route 66 in 1931 by Mike Cox 1-17-20

The Bride, He Wore White, How Men Wed in 1953 Waco, Texas by John Troesser

The Great Ostrich Race by Mike Cox

Snowfalls in Galveston by Mike Cox

Making Hay in Brooklyn
From the Daily Shreveport Times edition of August, 22, 1873

News from interesting to stale to interesting again by Mike Cox
Some of the goings on in West Texas in December 1884 and January 1885 as reported by the newly founded San Angelo Standard...

The Newspaper Tree by Mike Cox

Amusing Newspaper Blurbs from the Past by Mike Cox

News from the Republic of Texas by Mike Cox
A sampling of news items from Texas during its time as an independent republic.

Wild Willie's Picnic by Murray Montgomery
Willie Nelson, for many years, has been regarded as an outlaw in his music and his lifestyle. No doubt, he attracts many fans — but he also stirs up feelings in some folks that are somewhat negative to say the least. Such was the case in Gonzales County in July of 1976. Because you see, Ol’ Willie was coming to town.

Drought and Skeleton by Mike Cox
Drought in Fort Clark and Skeleton in Brackettville...

Sea Monster of Port Isabel by Mike Cox
The monster showed up in the Gulf of Mexico off the small fishing village of Port Isabel in the summer of 1938. That Aug. 10, in a short article buried on a back page, the Brownsville Herald devoted five paragraphs to “the sea monster that is attracting so much attention in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.”...

Claude Hinton’s Great Pencil Collection by Murray Montgomery
Back in 1969, The Gonzales Inquirer ran a feature story about a man named Claude Hinton and his somewhat unique hobby. You see, Claude collected pencils — over 5,000 of them...

Area full of historical tidbits by Delbert Trew
Perusing through countless magazines, newspapers and books, both old and new, turns up numerous interesting tidbits of history.

Rocks From The Sky by Murray Montgomery
One story appeared first in the Yoakum Times and the Halletsville Herald printed it on July 16, 1903. This fascinating piece was about a fellow named Benedict Manning who was witness to several strange occurrences during his lifetime...

Buck's Horse by Mike Cox
Nothing’s perfect, but occasionally a good writer manages to arrange the literary building blocks we call words, sentences and paragraphs in such a way as to surprise and please the reader...

Paragraphers by Mike Cox
Thanks to digital technology and search engines it’s easier than ever today to read and admire the work of a vanished journalistic breed – the paragrapher...

Turkey Hunt by Mike Cox
When the governor and the state’s highest ranking U.S. Army officer took time off from their official duties to go turkey hunting together in the late winter of 1890, the outing did not escape the attention of the state’s leading newspaper...

John Roan Mystery by Mike Cox
On Dec. 13, 1879, the Atlanta Constitution published a brief story that should have been big news in Texas, but somehow no editor in the Lone Star state picked up on the Georgia daily’s report. The story dealt with the purported solution of a 29-year-old mystery in Central Texas, the disappearance of one John Roan...

Dusting off pages offers up the dirt on Times gone by by Delbert Trew
Kansas Historical Society archives contain every issue of the old Dodge City Times published in the 1870s and 1880s. Browsing the many articles contained within is interesting and educational as we learn about the common happenings of that time...

The Huntsville Humdinger and the Texas Prison Rodeo by Mike Cox
When the Huntsville Humdinger hit the streets that Monday, the feisty four-column competitor of the long-established Huntsville Item carried on page one a humdinger of a local scoop: The prison system would be starting a rodeo that fall. On Sept. 4, 1931...

Baled in a Bale by Mike Cox
Though most of the ginning is done by brainless machinery, the industry’s human element has developed a colorful folklore with a range of subsets. But no ginning story can top the occasional tale of a body in a bale.

Central Texas Flood by Mike Cox
The first day it started raining, people took it as good news...

The times, they aren't a-changin' by Delbert Trew 8-22-09
Old newspaper clippings reveal the continuity of daily life

Runaway scrapes by Mike Cox
Thousands of people die every year in traffic crashes, but the horse and buggy era had its injurious and fatal accidents as well.

News Bits by Mike Cox
Run-of-the-mill news does not have a particularly long shelf life, but some tidbits from old newspapers stand the proverbial test of time very well indeed. Herewith some examples...

Terrible Memories of Hurricane Carla by Murray Montgomery
The story was from the Associated Press (AP) wire service and it was titled: "15-Year-Old Boy Describes Loss Of Family In Storm." And what triggered the bad memory for me was; I knew that boy...

Cuttings by Mike Cox
Remember way back before the advent of the internet when people clipped newspapers instead of downloading stories? Way back, newspaper clippings weren’t even called clippings. People referred t them as “cuttings.” So, for some lazy summer reading, here are some early-day “cuttings” from various Texas newspapers...

More News of the Odd by Mike Cox
The day may come when the internet forces newspapers to give up paper distribution, but the human appetite for offbeat news is as robust as ever, no matter the medium. Herewith some “cuttings” (as clippings used to be called) and a couple of rewrites from various 19th century Texas or Southwestern newspapers...

Austin Happenings by Mike Cox
Though its masthead proclaimed that the Texas State Democrat held itself in devotion to “those things which make happiness in the Texas home, prosperity on the Texas farm and contribute to the development of Texas resources,” news is news. And news, especially in 1902, sold newspapers...

In the News Mike Cox
A sampling of cuttings from the Dallas Herald shedding light on what was going on in Texas in the spring of 1890...

Weird News Mike Cox
From the Lone Star State in 1899, an assortment of weird, mostly fatal happenings - vintage news of the odd...

Oddities from Naylor’s Epic-Century: The Illustrated All-Texas Magazine December 1938 issue

News from Texas - From Niles’ National Register 1939-1940

Summer News from 1894

Old News - "Late from Texas" from various 1851-1852 issues of the Western American, a weekly published in Keosauqua, Iowa

"Struck on the head by a Locomotive"
Early Waco Obituaries 1874-1908

Weimar, Texas, 1887