The ''Brazosport Facts'' is the largest daily newspaper for

Brazoria County, Texas Brazoria County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 372,031. The county seat is Angleton. Brazoria County is included in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan stat ...

, a part of the

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the Office of Management and Budget, United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–Pasadena–The Woodlands, is the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical ...

area. The newspaper is owned by Southern Newspapers Inc., and began in 1913.

History

The paper was started by printer Roy Ruffin as the ''Freeport Facts'' months after the 1912 founding of

Freeport, Texas Freeport is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, United States, located on the Gulf of Mexico, founded in 1912. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 10,696, down from 12,049 in 2010, where Hispanic (U.S. ...

by the

Freeport Sulphur Company Freeport-McMoRan Inc., often called Freeport, is an American mining company based in the Freeport-McMoRan Center, in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is the world's largest producer of molybdenum, a major copper producer and operates the world's lar ...

. One year later, the paper was acquired by C.P. Kendall, Sr. who also owned newspapers in Port Aransas, and the '' Angleton Times'' in Angleton. A 1932 Freeport hurricane destroyed the ''Facts'' building and killed 40 people.The Facts
/ref> Separate area newspapers, the ''Brazoria County Review'', ''Velasco World'', and ''West Columbia Light'' were acquired by businessman W.D. Johnston. In 1949, he then merged the papers into ''The Daily Review''. In 1951, Southern Newspapers Inc. bought an interest in ''The Daily Review''. The next year, it purchased the ''Freeport Facts''. Merging the acquisitions into ''The Daily Facts-Review'', Southern Newspapers later changed the name to ''Brazosport Facts''. It eventually became the largest daily newspaper for the entire area. In August 1976, the ''Facts'' moved its headquarters from Freeport to neighboring

Clute, Texas Clute is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, United States, within the Houston metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 10,604. The city gained some fame with the discovery of a fossilized mammoth named Asiel. History ...

where it remains today. It absorbed employees from the competitor '' Angleton Times'' in 2004, along with the publication's reader list. The former ''Angleton Times'' office became the Angleton office of the ''Brazosport Facts''. In 2004 ''The Facts'' had an Angleton circulation of 4,000 while the ''Angleton Times'' had 1,100 subscribers; there were 730 people/entities who/which subscribed to both newspapers. The newspaper led the move to consolidate the town of

Velasco Velasco (also Belasco or Belasko) is a Basque family name. According to the academy of Basque language, it is derived from the Visigothic name 'Vela' (Vigila) and the Basque suffix ''–sco''.https://www.euskaltzaindia.eus/en/ (Onomastics, Belasc ...

into Freeport in 1957. The newspaper has also supported

Brazosport College Brazosport College (BC) is a public community college in Lake Jackson, Texas. The college opened in 1968 and offers primarily associate degrees and some bachelor's degrees. The campus features The Clarion, a regional musical performance venue, ...

and its Brazosport Center for the Arts and Sciences.

Awards

*1982 Penney-Missouri Award General Excellence

References

External links

thefacts.com
** Newspapers published in Greater Houston Brazoria County, Texas 1913 establishments in Texas Freeport, Texas Angleton, Texas Daily newspapers published in Texas {{Texas-newspaper-stub Newspapers established in 1913