Williamson County Sun

Marker installed: 1978

First published on May 19, 1877, the "Williamson County Sun" was founded by Jessie E. Cooper (1855-1944). In its first century of operation, the "Sun" initiated numerous civic projects, such as the building of the first railroad in Georgetown, Wesleyan Retirement Home, and low cost housing. Editors of the paper included Frank T. Roche, John R. Allen, John M. Sharpe, and Robert W. Cooper, son of the founder. Donald and Clara Scarbrough became the second full owners of the enterprise in 1948. The oldest newspaper in Williamson County, the weekly "Sun" became a semi-weekly in 1974. (1978).

Texas has been a major oil-producing state for over a century. The first big oil discovery in Texas was the Spindletop field near Beaumont in 1901, which set off a massive oil boom that transformed the state's economy and made Texas one of the wealthiest states in the country.