1904 Train Depot - Kingsville Texas

The Kingsville Record and Other Small Town Newspapers

The newspapers of small towns are like a personal diary, they record thoughts and dreams and actions.  They maintain a historical record on a very personal and local basis.  Kingsville has been very fortunate to have maintained one of these historical records pretty much from the beginning of the community, the Kingsville Record.  A small town newspaper will issue stories about the people in the community, the efforts of the community to bring in industry or entertain the community.  The large, mega newspapers focus on the great and powerful.  The little newspapers focus on us.

The old Kingsville Record newspapers have been preserved on microfilm at the South Texas Archives and the Public Library.  The community has been blessed at times with more than one newspaper.  Notas de Kingsville, the Spanish language newspaper, paralleled events in our community from 1943 until 1971.  Notas de Kingsville reported on PTA events, the progress of Santa Claus, a party for children of Mo-Pac employees, and a traditional Posada in the December 15, 1949, issue. 

During the years before the arrival of the Normal School in Kingsville, the Kingsville Record reported regularly on the progress being made and the problems encountered in lobbying Austin for the school to be built in Kingsville.  The Normal School, of course, evolved into our Texas A&M University – Kingsville.  There was fierce competition for the Normal School from other communities such as Corpus Christi.  It listed in detail all the reasons why Kingsville would be a better home for the Normal School, and celebrated when the South Texas State Teachers College finally called Kingsville its home.

The great and small events connected with the railroad were reported in the newspaper on a regular basis.  In the early days of Kingsville, the railroad was the main employer so everything was important that happened involving the railroad.  The early Kingsville Record included a Railroad News column.  That was a simple report of who had arrived on the train or departed on the train and the reason for their trip.  Many times the trip was to visit family or a railroad work event.  Sometimes it was a visit to the community from an important person such as the “Time Inspector”.  What in the world is a “Time Inspector”?  That was the railroad official who came to check the accuracy of every clock and watch used by the railroad.  It was all recorded by the small town newspaper.  Anyone studying genealogy of Kingsville families in the 1920's might want to investigate this Railroad News column in the old Kingsville Record, you might find a fun tidbit about a family member.

Newspapers are old fashioned, passé.  They are giving way to modern technologies such as television and the internet.  Fewer and fewer people are left who crave the simple pleasure of holding a newspaper in their hands and reading about their community.  Even the newspaper giants of the modern age are suffering and failing.  Will we lose our thread of community history with these changes?  I can’t answer that, but please visit the 1904 Kingsville Train Depot Museum and check out some of Kingsville's community history.