Austin’s first newspaper, the City Gazette, was first published in 1839.  The inaugural edition contained four pages and was published every Wednesday.  The subscription price was $5.00 per year. During the Texas Congressional sessions from 1840 until 1842, the Gazette was the official publisher of the Texas Congress.  Therefore, much of the newsprint contained the proceedings of Congress, laws, presidential decrees, and other governmental matters.  The paper carried local, national  and foreign news, which would have included news from the United States.  It also contained non-news items such as editorials, letters to the editor, fiction, poetry, essays, and reprints from other papers.  The editorial stance of the paper vacillated – at first being in favor of Mirabeau B. Lamar and then switching allegiance to Sam Houston. Publication was suspended in March 1842 because of the threatened Mexican invasion of Austin.  Additional issues were published until August 17, 1842.  Copies of the Gazette are available for research at the Texas State Library.