The Brownsville Herald, Texas: history and archive

• The Brownsville Herald is a newspaper based in Brownsville, Texas, founded in 1892 by Jesse O. Wheeler.
• In its early years, the newspaper advocated for the construction of a railroad connection to the north and a bridge to Matamoros, Mexico.
• The Brownsville Herald was owned by Freedom Communications until 2012, when it was sold to AIM Media Texas. As of 2022, it has a circulation of around 15,000 copies.
• You can explore The Brownsville Herald Online Archive and search for over 540,000 pages from 1892 to today

The Brownsville Herald is a newspaper based in Brownsville, Texas, serving the Cameron County area. It was founded in 1892 by Jesse O. Wheeler, a newspaperman from Victoria, who purchased the Cosmopolitan newspaper and renamed it the Brownsville Herald.

In its early years, the paper advocated for the construction of a railroad connection to the north and a bridge to the nearby city of Matamoros, Mexico. The bridge was eventually built in 1910.

The Brownsville Herald was owned by Freedom Communications until 2012, when Freedom filed for bankruptcy. At that point, the newspaper, along with others, was sold to AIM Media Texas.

As of 2022 it has a circulation of around 15,000 copies

A bit of history

In 1892, James B. Wells, a prominent member of the Democratic Party, convinced Jessie O. Wheeler, a newspaper editor from Victoria, to start a Democratic newspaper in Brownsville.

Wheeler, who had previously managed The Victoria Advocate and The Victoria Review, purchased the Daily Cosmopolitan and renamed it The Daily Herald. The first issue of The Daily Herald was published on July 4, 1892, and the paper continued to be published under various titles until the present day. The Daily Herald was published every afternoon except for Sundays, and it cost $8.00 per year to subscribe. By the end of its run, The Daily Herald had a circulation of 480 subscribers and was 15 by 22 inches in size.

Wheeler, a native of Alabama and a veteran of the Confederate Army, brought a strong editorial voice to The Daily Herald. The paper was known for its support of Democratic policies and candidates, as well as for its promotion of Brownsville and Cameron County. In addition to covering local politics, The Daily Herald also advocated for the development of local railroads and the growth of businesses and agriculture in the area. Wheeler's wife served as assistant editor and writer for the paper, and on at least one occasion, she served as business manager while her husband was sick.

The masthead of The Daily Herald featured a simple banner with the paper's title in an Old English font, and there were no advertisements in the masthead. However, the front page of the paper was filled with advertisements, including one for James B. Wells's law firm that appeared above the fold in most issues.

Despite facing criticism and competition from other newspapers, such as The Lower Rio Grande, The Daily Herald remained the dominant newspaper in Brownsville thanks to the efforts of Wheeler, Wells, and their team of Democratic supporters.