Type Daily newspaper Owner(s) Hearst Editor Timothy M. Kelly | Format Broadsheet Publisher Mark Adkins Founded 1880 | |
The Beaumont Enterprise is a newspaper of Hearst, headquartered in Beaumont, Texas. It has been in operation since 1880.
Contents
In addition to BeaumontEnterprise.com and the daily newspaper, The Enterprise produces several weeklies—the Jasper Newsboy, the Hardin County News, the Mid County Chronicle, the Orange County News, the Beaumont Journal and the Spanish-language Fronteras, as well as a bi-weekly real estate magazine and two monthly magazines, VIP and Lakecaster.
The Enterprise is a perennial winner of the state’s top journalism awards, including the Texas Press Association’s and Texas Associated Press Managing Editors’ prizes for overall excellence.
Prices
Enterprise prices are: daily, $2; Sunday/Thanksgiving Day, $3.
History
John W. Leonard founded the initial Enterprise as a weekly newspaper in 1880. It became a daily under editor W.W. McLeod in 1896 or 1897, to compete with crosstown rival Beaumont Journal (founded 1889).
In 1907, William P. Hobby became manager and part owner of the Enterprise and bought the paper outright in 1920, while Governor of Texas. One of his co-owners was general manager/associate publisher James Mapes. According to the Texas State Historical Association, the Enterprise "attained national stature" under Mapes' leadership — He came to the newspaper in 1908 and rose to ownership by 1931.
In 1918, Waco-based newspapermen Charles E. Marsh and E.S. Fentress purchased the crosstown competitor Beaumont Journal. Buying two other nearby papers (the weekly Port Arthur News and the daily Orange Leader), the pair boosted the Journal circulation and eventually Hobby bought the Journal.
Operating separately under the same company for many years, the Enterprise and Journal merged in 1983. The Hearst Corporation acquired the Enterprise from the Jefferson-Pilot insurance company's publications arm in 1984.