Record Embarks on 104th Year of Continuous Operation

With this issue the Fayette County Record begins its 104th year of continuous operation. Come celebrate with us Tuesday and Friday this week from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the newspaper office by grabbing a coffee and kolache on us.

Here’s a brief history of our newspaper: Newspapers calling themselves The Fayette County Record were published as early as the 1870s in La Grange. But in those frontier times, keeping the business going proved to be a difficult task.

But on Nov. 3, 1922, L.J. Sulak and Frank S. Baumbach founded the version of the newspaper that would finally stick around for good.

Volume 1, Number I was published on Nov. 3, 1922. At one time the paper printed three times a week but the Depression returned to a twice-weekly.

Johnnie Sulak, L.J.’s son, took over the newspaper upon the death of his father. Bonner and Virginia McMillion purchased The Record on Sept. 1, 1965, and formed the Fayette Publishing Company. In October 1974 the newspaper moved to its present location at 127 S. Washington in La Grange. In 1976 the Richard L. Barton Sr. family purchased The Record. On Nov. 5, 1986, the Record became the only newspaper in La Grange when Barton purchased the La Grange Journal’s subscription list before it closed.

In 2001 the newspaper went to fully computerized design, which is now sent to Bryan for printing. Barton Sr. died in June 2003. His son, Richard L. Barton Jr., took over as owner and publisher. He died in Nov. 2006 after which Larry Jackson was hired as editor and publisher in Feb. 2007. In January 2012, upon Jackson’s retirement, Regina Keilers, the daughter of Barton Sr., took over as publisher and Jeff Wick became editor.

The paper is completely owned by members of the Barton family, making it one of the few stand-alone family- owned community papers left in Texas. The Record’s current paid circulation per issue of 4,408 makes it one of the 20 largest newspapers in the entire state of Texas. In the last few years The Record has also added a three-timesa- week email newsletter, and continues to maintain active Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube pages, meaning more people are consuming The Record’s content, and in more ways, than at any point in our history. Celebrate our birthday by sharing today’s Record with someone who lives in or loves Fayette County.