Gonzales Inquirer named Main Street Member of Month

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The Gonzales Inquirer, located at 622 Saint Paul St., was named the Gonzales Main Street Member of the Month for both March and April!

The Gonzales Inquirer has been a weekly publication in Gonzales Texas since 1853. It was the first newspaper in Gonzales and remains one of the oldest continuously operating newspapers in the state of Texas. The name was chosen because the people wanted to “inquire” as to what was going on.

The first issue was published on June 4, 1853. This year will be the 170th anniversary of the first issue published. In 1884, Henry Reese Jr., originally an apprentice, became a junior partner. The Reese family owned the paper for nearly 100 years.

In 1991, the paper was sold to Granite Publications. It is now owned by Fenice Community Media. Although the paper is no longer owned and run by the Reese family, the publisher, reporters and staff still feel like family. They work together, have fun together and love being with one another.

Lew Cohn, publisher, has been with the Gonzales Inquirer since September 2021. He loves that due to the nature of the business, he is involved in so much of the community. His favorite part is talking to people, meeting people, hearing their story and translating that into the written word. This is chronicling history. History has been recorded with this paper every week for 170 years. They are making history and printing history.

Sanya Simmons, the office manager, is the most veteran of the bunch. She has been off and on with the paper since she graduated in 1980. Apart from reporting, she has done just about everything there is to do. From graphic design to paper delivery, she loves her job and has passion for this community. 

Vandy Van Epps has been a staff writer for the paper since May 2022. Vandy enjoys covering the sports, speaking with the athletes, and seeing them improve in their respective sports seasons. Being able to interview the kids and getting them to comment on their games is a great asset to the paper.

Seaborn Roundtree assists in all circulation capacities, getting the printed paper delivered and into the hands of the subscribers.

Additional freelance contributing writers include Clayton Kelly and Betty Cohn.

Some great advice from the Gonzales Inquirer team:

“Don’t get into journalism expecting to get a big paycheck. It’s not about the paycheck; it’s about the love of what you are doing. If you love talking to people, if you love writing, if you love telling a story, if you love history, then journalism is a great career. It will pay the bills, but more importantly you can feel rewarded. You can go home at night knowing that you have played a part in your community. As part of a journalism team, you don’t just cover one thing, you are a jack or jill of all trades in that role.”

While the Gonzales Inquirer may only have about one year of their publications stored on site, the biggest archive of papers can be found on microfilm at the Robert Lee Brothers Jr. Memorial Library.

Want to support this piece of history? Keep subscribing, keep advertising. Invest in your newspaper. Not only are you investing in the preservation of history, they are part of our local community. They work here, they spend here. They are customer too!

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