Henderson Proudly Gets a Daily Newspaper

When Volume 1, Issue 1 of the Henderson Daily News was published on March 20, 1931, the front page stories focused around oil. Oil from the Joiner wells were beginning to be refined in Henderson. Geologists from around the world met in San Antonio. Financial concerns were expressed about the glut of oil “upsetting the apple cart of supply and demand.”

Since columns need to be filled, there were also three paragraphs about how a monogrammed chicken egg for U.S. President Herbert Hoover was mistakenly imprinted with a “C” rather than an “H.” The paper noted that “evidently the hen intended the egg for Calvin Coolidge.”

Front page of the first issue of the Henderson Daily News. From the Portal to Texas History.

Even the weather report on the first page turned to oil. The coming rainfall was described as a “driller’s boon” since it would refill lowered water supplies for storage tanks and slush pits. While the “diggers” were happy, the truck drivers knew that being stuck on a muddy oilfield road was in their future.

Click the image of the front page to read more about the celebration of reaching this milestone. This link to the Portal to Texas History will display over 29,000 search links to “Rusk County” found in their vast digital collection. You can also see how early printing was done by visiting the Park Print Shop on the grounds of the Depot Museum & History Center.