The Snyder Signal (Snyder, Tex.) 1887-????
Historic newspapers carry the language, views and graphic reporting of their time, including racist content. They are shown to teen and adult profiles.
448 issues from 1911 to 1921, published in Snyder, Texas, digitised for Chronicling America.
At the turn of the 20th century, two newspapers–the Coming West and the Western Light—served the residents of Snyder, Texas. Founded in 1887, the Coming West dated from the town’s origins as a buffalo hunting ground, while the Western Light began as ranching flourished in the 1890s. As Scurry County grew to over 10,000 residents in 1910, however, the newspaper business did not follow suit. Instead, the Snyder Signal became the town’s primary news source by the end of the following year.
The details of the transition remain unclear, but E. B. Barnes most likely renamed the Coming West the Signal in 1911, the same year that J. S. Hardy consolidated the Western Light with the paper. After experimenting with a daily version for a few months, Hardy and Barnes issued the eight-page Signal as a Friday weekly. The paper cycled through several owners, but Hardy consistently edited the publication from 1911 to 1921. Measuring 15 x 22 inches and costing one dollar for an annual subscription, the Signal reported a subscriber base of 1,500 in 1913.
In addition to printing international and national newswires from the Associated Press, the Signal chronicled milestones in the frontier town’s growth, including the establishment of Snyder’s chamber of commerce, waterworks, and fire department. Crop updates and farming bulletins served the region’s expanding agricultural industry, with personal news from residents across Scurry County extending the paper’s appeal. Although advertisements…
- Genres
- News
- Published in
- Snyder, Texas, United States
- Language
- English
- Collection
- Chronicling America
- Licence or status
- None stated by the archive
- Rights
- The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety.
- Credit
- Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities
- Who can read it
- Teens profiles and older (placed by Invisible Network from what the archive says; archives give no ratings)
- Archive
- Library of Congress