Type Daily newspaper Founded February 18, 1880 Ceased publication April 18, 1995 | Format Broadsheet Language English | |
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Headquarters Houston, Texas, United States | ||
The Houston Post was a newspaper that had its headquarters in Houston, Texas, United States. In 1995, the newspaper shut down, and its assets were purchased by the Houston Chronicle.
Contents
History
The newspaper was established on February 19, 1880, by Gail Borden Johnson. Though that 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.
Short story writer O. Henry worked briefly for the Post in 1895 and 1896. He had to leave his position at the Post when he was indicted for embezzlement from previous employment at a bank in Austin.
For many years, the Post was owned by the Hobby family, who also began Houston's first radio station, KPRC (AM) in 1925. Amid declining sales, the Post was sold in 1983 to the Toronto Sun. Four years later, MediaNews Group, led by William Dean Singleton, 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, the publisher of the Post's rival daily Houston Chronicle. 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.
Availability of Houston Post articles
Some Houston Post articles had been made available in the archives of the Houston Chronicle 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 New York Times Co. v. Tasini decision; the newspaper originally planned to filter articles not allowed 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.
People interested in reading Houston Post articles may view them on microfilm. The Houston Public Library has the newspaper on microfilm from 1880–1995 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, while 1900–1995 is in the Jesse H. Jones Building, the main building of the Central Library. In addition the University of Houston'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 has online searchable past issues of the Houston Post from 1893 to 1903 in the newspaper section.