August 14th, 1819 -- First Texas newspaper begins brief life

[Craig Tx]

The Nacogdoches Texas Republican, believed to be the earliest newspaper published in Texas, was first printed on August 14, 1819.

Eli Harris printed the paper for the James Long expedition. No copy of the paper is known to have survived, but the St. Louis Enquirer noted that the content was "principally occupied with the military and political operations going on in that quarter." The paper, a weekly, appeared twice in August and possibly a few times in September and then ceased publication.

[BEAVERMAN]

Wow, that was a short run! sounds more like a report of the expedition rather than a news paper!

[Oldetexian]

 

I would imagine there was a limited universe around Nacogdoches  as far as readers were concerned, especially in 1819. I wonder if the paper was reborn later somewhere else...

[Ohio Joe]

I would have never guessed that in 1819 a newspaper in Texas was printed... An old dog (like me) can still learn things. It's a'shame that a copy doesn't exist - I bet that would be a real treasure trove of information of the times.

Thanks Craig