The ''Brazosport Facts'' is the largest daily newspaper for

Brazoria County, Texas Brazoria County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 372,031. The county seat is Angleton. Brazoria County is included in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan sta ...

, a part of the

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...

area. The newspaper is owned by

Southern Newspapers Inc. Southern Newspapers Inc. (SNI) is a publishing holding company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company was founded as Southern Newspapers, Inc., of Tennessee in 1967 by Carmage Walls. Its flagship paper, the ''Galveston County Daily News'' is ...

, and began in 1913.

History

The paper was started by printer Roy Ruffin as the ''Freeport Facts'' months after the 1912 founding of

Freeport, Texas Freeport is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, United States, located on the Gulf of Mexico. According to the 2020 census, the city population was 10,696, down from 12,049 in 2010. History Freeport was founded as a European-American settlement ...

by the

Freeport Sulphur Company Freeport-McMoRan Inc., often called Freeport, is an American mining company based in the Freeport-McMoRan Center, in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is the world's largest producer of molybdenum, is a major copper producer and operates the world's ...

. One year later, the paper was acquired by C.P. Kendall, Sr. who also owned newspapers in

Port Aransas Port Aransas ( ) is a city in Nueces County, Texas, United States. This city is 180 miles southeast of San Antonio. The population was 2,904 at the 2020 census. Port Aransas is the only established town on Mustang Island. It is located north of ...

, and the '' Angleton Times'' in Angleton. A 1932 Freeport hurricane destroyed the ''Facts'' building and killed 40 people.The Facts
/ref> Separate area newspapers, the ''Brazoria County Review'', ''Velasco World'', and ''West Columbia Light'' were acquired by businessman W.D. Johnston. In 1949, he then merged the papers into ''The Daily Review''. In 1951,

bought an interest in ''The Daily Review''. The next year, it purchased the ''Freeport Facts''. Merging the acquisitions into ''The Daily Facts-Review'', Southern Newspapers later changed the name to ''Brazosport Facts''. It eventually became the largest daily newspaper for the entire area. In August 1976, the ''Facts'' moved its headquarters from Freeport to neighboring

Clute, Texas Clute is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, within the Houston metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city population was 10,604. The city gained some fame with the discovery of a fossilized mammoth named Asiel. There is now a restaur ...

where it remains today. It absorbed employees from the competitor '' Angleton Times'' in 2004, along with the publication's reader list. The former ''Angleton Times'' office became the Angleton office of the ''Brazosport Facts''. In 2004 ''The Facts'' had an Angleton circulation of 4,000 while the ''Angleton Times'' had 1,100 subscribers; there were 730 people/entities who/which subscribed to both newspapers. The newspaper led the move to consolidate the town of Velasco into Freeport in 1957. The newspaper has also supported

Brazosport College Brazosport College (BC) is a public community college in Lake Jackson, Texas. The college was opened in 1968 and offers primarily associate degrees and some bachelor's degrees. The campus features The Clarion, a regional musical performance ven ...

and its Brazosport Center for the Arts and Sciences.

Awards

*1982 Penney-Missouri Award General Excellence

References

External links

thefacts.com
** Newspapers published in Greater Houston Brazoria County, Texas 1913 establishments in Texas Freeport, Texas Angleton, Texas Daily newspapers published in Texas {{Texas-newspaper-stub