The Enterprise marks 100 years

HEBBRONVILLE – The Enterprise has marked 100 years and more than 5,000 editions.

In a story published May 6, Publisher Pancho Hernandez Jr. noted that when the newspaper began, a year’s subscription for Hebbronville and Jim Hogg County residents was $2.

“It was also a time when pressmen cranked their presses to produce the newspaper for the weekly editions,” Hernandez noted.

“Much has changed since then. No longer do the presses run locally, and the old metal type and cabinets that held the letters and numerals used to print newspaper pages have long been retired.”

Due to recent changes and factors such as the expense of newsprint, today the Enterprise is printed in Mexico, with a limit on the number of pages, according to Hernandez.

In 2011, the newspaper’s name was changed to The Enterprise to reflect the new ownership and to allow the newspaper to expand coverage, encompassing Duval County and including the cities of San Diego, Benavides and Freer. The additional coverage area allowed the newspaper to survive in hard times, Hernandez wrote.

Over the years, the newspaper has also published supplements including South Texas History Magazine and Mi Vida Magazine, utilizing area writers and journalists. Hernandez has served as publisher since 2001. He began his career in Hebbronville in the late 1970s, first as a student teacher with the Jim Hogg County Independent School District and later as a correspondent publishing stories in the early to mid-1980s.

Hernandez said the newspaper’s success was possible because of its community, which through the years participated in helping the newspaper staff achieve their goals.

“We owe our success to them,” he said. “Without their help, we would have failed to exist a long time ago.”