Laredo Morning Times - History

History

During the 125-year run, the afternoon "Laredo Times" became the "Laredo Morning Times." The newspapers, under different names, have covered nearly half of Laredo's history. The city was founded on May 15, 1755.

Historians continue to use the newspaper as a primary source for information to learn of Laredo's culture and traditions, all documented for readers and their posterity.

In the same year that the Laredo Morning Times began publication, the Abilene Reporter-News and the El Paso Times were also born. The Beaumont Journal-Enterprise, began a year earlier in 1880.

The defunct San Antonio Light was the cornerstone paper when William Randolph Hearst expanded his newspaper empire to Texas in 1881. The Light shut down with the Hearst acquisition of the San Antonio Express-News.

James Penn, working out of the state capital in Austin, established a commercial printing business affiliate in San Antonio. He recognized the economic potential when he chose to bring his equipment to Laredo. His obituary says that he brought his family and equipment in a wagon train, which arrived on May 1, 1881.

Laredo was experiencing phenomenal growth as a major center of trade on the frontier. South of San Antonio de Bexar, the most promising communities in the region were Corpus Christi, Brownsville, and Laredo.

Laredo had been settled near the banks of the Rio Grande for 126 years when the Penn family arrived. Several newspapers had already started on both sides of the border, but these publications did not maintain operations.