San Antonio's O. Henry House is located at the corner of Dolorosa St and Laredo Street in downtown San Antonio TX. A plaque affixed to the front of the home by the Friends of the San Antonio Public Library reads as follows:
"O. HENRY HOUSE
The first ff ice of O. Henry's newspaper 'THE ROLLING STONE' Est. 1895
Friends of the San Antonio Public Library Feb 14, 2000"
From the Handbook of Txas Online: (
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"ROLLING STONE.
by Patrick Cox
The newspaper Rolling Stone was the first publication of William Sydney Porter, better known as O. Henry. The weekly newspaper was published in 1894–95 and reached a circulation of several thousand subscribers. Porter purchased the press of the Iconoclast from William Cowper Brann, and the first two issues by Porter used the name Iconoclast. At that time Brann decided to publish in Waco, and Porter changed the name to Rolling Stone. The first issue was published on Saturday, April 28, 1894, as Volume 1, Number 3. Subscription rates for the Rolling Stone were $1.50 per year, and the paper printed from eight to twelve pages weekly.
In the first issue Porter left no doubt that the paper was intended more for entertainment than news. He lampooned local politicians, social customs, business practices, the performing arts, and other local and state establishments. Throughout the life of the paper, fictionalized accounts of news appeared. Once Porter "reprinted" a page from the imaginary paper "Plunkville Patriot," complete with intentionally written typographical errors and confused syntax. He wrote most of the articles and took the rest from syndicates. Some of his own short stories were first published in the Rolling Stone. Porter raised money from friends and worked with a partner, James P. Crane. He may have kept the Rolling Stone alive with money embezzled from the First National Bank, where he worked as a teller. After being charged with the crime, he resigned and, without an income, was unable to continue publishing. The final issue of the Rolling Stone appeared on April 27, 1895.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Mary Sunlocks Harrell, O. Henry's Texas Contacts (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1935). O. Henry, Rolling Stones (New York: Doubleday, Page, 1913). Gerald Langford, Alias O. Henry: A Biography of William Sydney Porter (New York: Macmillan, 1957). Richard O'Connor, O. Henry: The Legendary Life of William S. Porter (Garden City: Doubleday, 1970). Fanny Elizabeth Ratchford, The Rolling Stone: The Life History of an O. Henry Rarity (New York: Colophon, 1934). Marilyn M. Sibley, "Austin's First National and the Errant Teller," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 74 (April 1971)."
An associated state historic marker at the home reads as follows:
"O. HENRY HOUSE
Typical of the homes of early German settlers, this two-room dwelling was built by John Kush about 1855. It originally stood on south Presa Street. It was occupied in 1895-96 by William Sidney Porter, who gained national renown as the short story writer O. Henry. Here he issued a weekly humorous newspaper, "The Rolling Stone". In 1960 the structure was moved to this location by the Kush Family and the Lone Star Brewing Company."