Historical Marker

The Donna News

Donna · Hidalgo County · Dedicated 2003 · THC Atlas #5215013007

The roadside stories worth pulling over for.

Marker Inscription

In 1904, T.J. Hooks and A.F. Hester, Sr. founded towns on the StLB&M Rail Line. Railroad president Uriah Lott chose the names of Hooks' daughters for two towns, Donna and Beatrice (East Donna). In 1910, Garland Buck built a two-story brick building at this site for the Donna Developer. It changed hands several times, known also as the Donna Dispatch, the Donna News and the Donna News-Advocate until its run ended in the 1960s. In 1969, the Donna Chamber of Commerce bought the building and later shared it with the Donna Hooks Fletcher Museum, created in 1974. A fire damaged the structure in 1988, but its restoration and use as part of the museum helps preserve the history of the paper and the community it served. (2005)

About this site

The Donna News is a historical marker in Donna, Hidalgo County, dedicated in 2003. It is one of 138 historical markers documented in Hidalgo County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 236 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 26.1698, -98.0559 near Donna. The nearest cataloged historic site is Donna Hooks Fletcher Museum (museum), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include P.P. Ackley and the Texas Chisholm Trail, American Legion Hall, and Donna.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5215013007. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.

📍 26.1698, -98.0559 · Donna, Hidalgo County
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