Tracing its roots back to 1871, the Longview News-Journal is one of the oldest businesses in Gregg County and much of East Texas. Now owned by Cox Newspapers, the Longview News-Journal has a colorful history of past publishers and owners.

Among its first owners was James Hogg, who went on to become governor of Texas. And for almost four decades, it was owned by Carl Estes, who played an instrumental role in shaping the community, playing a key role not only as a publisher, but as a community promoter and business recruiter.

Estes was active in business and political circles throughout his career as owner and publisher of the Longview Morning Journal and Daily News. His wife, Margaret, assumed leadership of the newspapers when he died and she eventually sold them to Cox Newspapers, which in 1986 merged the morning and afternoon newspapers into the single edition, Longview News-Journal.