The Beaumont Enterprise
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The Beaumont Enterprise is a newspaper of Hearst Communications, headquartered in Beaumont, Texas.<ref>"Contact Us." The Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved on August 20, 2010.</ref> It has been in operation since 1880.
History
John W. Leonard founded the initial Enterprise as a weekly newspaper in 1880.<ref name=HTO>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It became a daily under editor W.W. McLeod in 1896 or 1897, to compete with crosstown rival Beaumont Journal<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> (founded 1889).<ref name="txhist"/>
In 1907, William P. Hobby became manager and part owner of the Enterprise <ref name=HTO-Hobby>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and bought the paper outright in 1920,<ref>Texas Paper Is In New Hands (Jan. 17, 1920)</ref> while Governor of Texas. One of his co-owners was general manager/associate publisher James Mapes.<ref>Beaumont "Enterprise" Ownership Changed</ref> According to the Texas State Historical Association, the Enterprise "attained national stature" under Mapes' leadership — He came to the newspaper in 1908 and rose to ownership by 1931.<ref name="txhist"/>
In 1918, Waco-based newspapermen Charles E. Marsh and E.S. Fentress purchased the crosstown competitor Beaumont Journal. Buying two other nearby papers (the weekly Port Arthur News<ref name="paabout">PAnews.com: Port Arthur News history, accessed January 20, 2007.</ref> and the daily Orange Leader), the pair boosted the Journal circulation and eventually Hobby bought the Journal.<ref name="kopper">Template:Cite book</ref>
Jefferson-Pilot bought the Enterprise and Journal in 1970.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Operating separately under the same company for many years, the Enterprise and Journal merged in 1983.<ref name="txhist">Beaumont Enterprise</ref> The Hearst Corporation acquired the Enterprise from the Jefferson-Pilot insurance company's publications arm in 1984.<ref>Jefferson-Pilot Corp. to sell three newspapers</ref><ref>The Reign of S.F.'s `Monarch of the Dailies' / Hearst media empire started with Examiner</ref>