The ''Houston Post'' was a

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

that had its headquarters in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, United States. In 1995, the newspaper shut down, and its assets were purchased by the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

''.

History

Gail Borden Johnson founded the ''Houston Post'' on February 19, 1880. He expanded the paper by acquiring the Houston ''Telegraph'', the legacy of the ''

Telegraph and Texas Register ''Telegraph and Texas Register'' (1835–1877) was the second permanent newspaper in Texas. Originally conceived as the ''Telegraph and Texas Planter'', the newspaper was renamed shortly before it began publication, to reflect its new mission ...

'', which operated the first press in Texas after the

Texas Revolution The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the Centralist Republic of Mexico, centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of ...

. By 1884, however, the paper was financially distressed, when

William R. Baker William Robinson Baker (May 21, 1820 – April 30, 1890) was an American railroad executive and politician who served as the 29th Mayor of Houston from 1880 to 1886. Baker was previously the Director and Vice President of the Houston and Texas ...

led a group of investors to bail out the publication. Despite their efforts, the original publication ceased in October 1884. The ''Houston Post'' was re-established with the merger of the ''Houston Morning Chronicle'' and the ''Houston Evening Journal'' on April 5, 1885. J. L. Watson was the business manager and Rienzi M. Johnston was the editor. Watson implemented the use of linotype machines to replace the process of manual typesetting. He gained financial control of the paper through acquiring more stock in the company. Short story writer

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the Ma ...

worked briefly for the ''Post'' in 1895 and 1896. He had to leave his position at the ''Post'' when he was indicted for

embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

from previous employment at a bank in

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

. Former Texas governor and ''Post'' managing editor William P. Hobby was made president of the paper in 1924. After Hobby acquired a controlling stake in the ''Post'' in 1939, his family owned the paper for the next four decades. Amid declining sales, the ''Post'' was sold in 1983 to the ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices are located at Pos ...

''.

H&C Communications H&C Communications was an American broadcasting company that owned a number of media outlets throughout the United States. Originally known as Channel 2 Television Company, a reference to the channel number of flagship station KPRC-TV, it was crea ...

was created in the aftermath of the sale for the Hobby family to retain control of the broadcasting assets that consisted of TV stations across the U.S., especially local

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

affiliate

KPRC-TV KPRC-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Graham Media Group. Its studios are located on Southwest Freeway (I-69/ US 59) in the Southwest Management District (formerly Greate ...

, and radio station

KPRC (AM) KPRC () is a commercial radio station in Houston, Texas. It has a talk radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. KPRC broadcasts mostly conservative talk radio shows and is the home base for the nationally syndicated ''Walton & Johnson'' ...

. Four years later,

MediaNews Group MNG Enterprises, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado, United States–based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 ass ...

, led by

William Dean Singleton William Dean Singleton (born August 1, 1951) is an American newspaper executive. He is the founder and executive board chairman of MediaNews Group, the fourth-largest newspaper company in the United States in terms of circulation, with 53 daily pa ...

, bought the paper. The ''Houston Post'' building, in the 1970s, had contemporary artwork, slate floors, and wood-grain concrete walls. Tours of the building and its facilities were given at the time. The ''Houston Post'' later closed permanently, with the final edition printed on April 18, 1995. Its assets and liabilities were acquired by

Hearst Corporation Hearst Corporation, Hearst Holdings Inc. and Hearst Communications Inc. comprise an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate owned by the Hearst family and based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan in New York ...

, the publisher of the ''Post''s rival daily ''

''. The Hearst Corporation acquired the Houston Post headquarters, which included the newspaper's printing facilities and five offset press lines. Hearst began to use the facilities as part of the production of the ''Houston Chronicle''. ''Houston Chronicle'' newspapers were distributed to former ''Houston Post'' subscribers. The facility now serves as a ''Houston Chronicle'' plant and the headquarters of the ''Houston Chronicle'' Spanish newspaper ''

La Voz de Houston ''La Voz de Houston'' (Spanish: "The Voice of Houston") is a Spanish-language weekly newspaper distributed by the ''Houston Chronicle'', and a subsidiary of the ''Houston Chronicle''. The newspaper's offices are located in the ''Houston Chronicl ...

''.Moreno, Jenalia.
Chronicle buys La Voz Spanish newspaper
" ''

''. Friday December 3, 2004. Retrieved on January 8, 2012.

Final sale

The

, parent company of the ''Houston Chronicle'', bought out the ''Houston Post'' from Consolidated Papers, Inc. on April 18, 1995, ending a 94-year-old crosstown rivalry. Hearst shut the paper down, reportedly for the purpose of eliminating local competition for readership and advertisers. The former owners cited the increasing cost of newsprint, which they had expected to rise up to $39 million from $26 million the previous year. The ''Houston Post'' reported an average daily circulation of over 287,000 that year, with a Sunday circulation of almost 317,000. The ''Houston Post'' did not announce the sale of the paper in its final edition on April 18.

Availability of ''Houston Post'' articles

Some ''Houston Post'' articles had been made available in the archives of the ''

'' website, but by 2005 they were removed. The ''Houston Chronicle'' online editor Mike Read said that the ''Houston Chronicle'' decided to remove ''Houston Post'' articles from the website after the 2001

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

'' New York Times Co. v. Tasini'' decision; the newspaper originally planned to filter articles not permitted by the decision and to post articles that were not prohibited by the decision. The ''Houston Chronicle'' decided not to post or re-post any more ''Houston Post'' articles because of difficulties in complying with the ''New York Times Co. v. Tasini'' decision with the resources that were available to the newspaper.Newkirk, Jim.
Houston Post archives permanently unavailable online, maybe, likely, really...

''

''. July 1, 2005. Retrieved on July 3, 2010. People interested in reading ''Houston Post'' articles may view them on

microfilm A microform is a scaled-down reproduction of a document, typically either photographic film or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original d ...

. The

Houston Public Library Houston Public Library is the public library system serving Houston, Texas, United States. History Houston Lyceum and the Carnegie Library The Houston Public Library system traces its founding to the creation of the second Houston Lyceum in ...

has the newspaper on microfilm from 1880 to 1995 and the ''Houston Post Index'' from 1976 to 1994. The microfilm of 1880–1900 is in the Texas and Local History Department of the

Julia Ideson Building The Julia Ideson Building is a Houston Public Library facility in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. It is named for Julia Bedford Ideson, who served as the system's first head librarian for 40 years. The Spanish Renaissance-style build ...

, while 1900–1995 is in the Jesse H. Jones Building, the main building of the Central Library. In addition the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

's main library has the ''Houston Post'' available on microfilm from 1880 to 1995 and the ''Houston Post Index'' from 1976 to 1979 and from 1987 to 1994. The

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

has online searchable past issues of the ''Houston Post'' from 1893 to 1903 in the newspaper section. The

Dallas Public Library The Dallas Public Library (DPL) is the public library system that serves the city of Dallas, Texas, United States. With more than 4 million items and 30 locations, the Dallas Public Library is the largest public library system in North Texas. A ...

archival collection also has a microfilm collection of the ''Houston Post'' from February 23, 1881 – June 1884, March 1887 – December 1906, and June 1977 – March 1995. The collection includes the paper through different title variations, including the ''Houston Daily Post''.

Gallery

File:"Houston Post" (April 3, 1917).jpeg, Front page of the ''Houston Post'' on April 3, 1917 File:Houston Post Press Room.jpeg, A view of the press room, with rotary plates waiting to be locked into the press File:Houston Post Building, Houston, Texas (1904).jpg, Houston Post Building, Houston, Texas (postcard, circa 1904) File:World Famous Red Headed Widows, Houston, Texas.jpg, World Famous Red Headed Widows, Houston, Texas (postcard, )

References

External links

''Rancor and Romance...''
- Marty Graham

-

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...

- April 18, 1995
Guide to the Rienzi Melville Johnston papers, 1899-1926

* * High-resolution scans of several ''Houston Post'' issues from 1890 - 1925 at th
University of Houston Libraries
* Post Mortem: Though not unexpected, the death of the ''Houston Post'' was still a surprise

* Fleck, Tim and Jim Simmon.
Deano's Disclosure: Singleton signed the ''Post''s death warrant long before it expired
" ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown Houston, Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely ...