Texas Spur owners acquire Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon

FLOYDADA — The Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon has been acquired by Paragraph Ranch, LLC, a media company based in Dickens County that also publishes the Texas Spur in Spur and The Caprock Courier in Silverton.
Founded in 1896 as the Hesperian-Gazette, the newspaper merged with the Lockney Beacon in 1991 to become the Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon under publisher Kenneth Towery and editor Alice Towery Gilroy, his daughter.
“The addition of Floyd County’s long-established weekly newspaper to our group brings together a powerful voice in rural Texas, especially in agriculture,” said Kay Ellington, CEO of Paragraph Ranch LLC and publisher of the Texas Spur and the Caprock Courier.
Together the three newspapers cover news in eight contiguous counties of West Texas, reaching an area of 7,382 square miles and a market population of more than 17,000.
Ellington, who brings to the job four decades of experience with local newspapers and national media firms, including the New York Times Group and Gannett Newspapers, has been publisher of The Texas Spur since 2018. In 2015 she was founding editor and publisher of Lone Star Literary Life, Texas’ weekly online news about books, authors and literary events.
Barbara Brannon, who retired in 2019 as executive director of the Texas Plains Trail Region heritage tourism organization of the Texas Historical Commission, serves as editor of the Texas Spur and now serves as associate publisher of the Hesperian-Beacon. Formerly marketing manager of Texas Tech University Press, Brannon has worked in publishing and communications for four decades.
Barbara Anderson continues in the role of Hesperian-Beacon managing editor and business manager. Liz Adams serves as content editor for the Hesperian-Beacon in addition to her similar responsibilities for the neighboring Caprock Courier.
The Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon continues in print weekly, entered for mailing in Floyd County. The newspaper is available in the same single copy sales locations on Wednesdays in Floydada and Lockney. The online edition is published at www.hesperianbeacononline.com.