The Baytown Sun traces its roots to the weekly Goose Creek Gasser, established by Frank Boyer in 1919 two months before construction began on the Humble Oil and Refining Company's Baytown refinery. Created to serve the rapidly growing tri-cities of Goose Creek, Pelly, and Baytown as they evolved from oil boom towns into a permanent refinery-centered community, the paper became the Semi-Weekly Tribune in 1924 under new ownership and the Daily Tribune in 1929, when circulation was around 4,500. Financial strain during the Great Depression led to the merger of Goose Creek's Tribune, the Pelly Telegram, and Baytown's Tri-Cities News-Herald into the Tri-Cities Sun, first published on July 19, 1931, from the Tribune's building at 119 West Pearce, and renamed the Daily Sun two years later. After Goose Creek, Pelly, and Baytown consolidated in 1948, the paper was renamed The Baytown Sun and became the sole daily newspaper in the old Tri-Cities area. In 1949 the facility was greatly expanded with a new press and its first air conditioned workspace, and that year The Sun surpassed a circulation of 8,000 and employed forty individuals. In 1965 The Sun moved to 1301 Memorial Drive, where its first issue reached more than 12,700 subscribers. Longtime publishers and editors included William Pendergraft from 1931 to 1944, Robert Matherne from 1931 to 1950, Fred Hartman from 1935 to 1974, and Preston Pendergrass from 1954 to 1981. Since 1919, The Baytown Sun and its predecessors have focused primarily on local news and history while also providing state, national, and international coverage.