Nakon donošenja odluke Hrvatskoga sabora o uspostavi županija na području banske Hrvatske 5. veljače 1886. formira se Ličko-krbavska županija, u kojoj Gospić stječe funkciju glavnoga središta Like. U Gospiću se od 1886. izdaju i prve novine Ličanin, Časopis za pučku prosvjetu, gospodarstvo i zabavu. Tijekom zadnjeg desetljeća XIX. stoljeća u gradu izlaze još dva glasila: Hrvat: list za pouku, gospodarstvo i politiku (1895.) i Srbin (1898.), a početkom XX. stoljeća pojavile su se i novine Starčevićanac: Novine Starčevićeva kluba u Gospiću (1907./08.). Sve te publikacije dragocjen su izvor podataka o događajima i općoj situaciji u Gospiću i njegovoj okolici. Kakvi god bili odnosi među uredništvima tih novina i unatoč njihovim različitim političkim stavovima, upravo zahvaljujući njima moguće je pratiti gospićku povijest u razdoblju od ukidanja Vojne krajine do Prvoga svjetskog rata. Članak donosi podatke o društvenome, političkome, upravnome i gospodarskome stanju Gospića na prijelazu iz XIX. u XX. stoljeće. Pomnim iščitavanjem navedenih novina naišlo se na članke koji otkrivaju slabo poznate detalje o gradu koji, nažalost, nije dovoljno zastupljen u historiografskim istraživanjima i nema vlastitu monografiju. Prema pisanju Ernesta Krambergera u njegovim putnim crticama o Gospiću (1903.), možemo vizualizirati izgled grada i njegovih stanovnika na ulazu u XX. stoljeće., Following the Croatian Sabor’s decision to create counties on the territory of Croatia on 5 February 1886, the county of Lika-Krbava was formed and the town of Gospić gained the status of its capital. It began to organize itself as a modern centre which concentrates political, administrative, economic, military and judicial power. Th e chief administrative official in the county of Lika-Krbava was the Veliki Župan (Grand Prefect). In 1886, Gospić also obtained its first newspaper, Ličanin, Časopis za pučku prosvjetu, gospodarstvo i zabavu (‘Man of Lika: the newspaper for popular education, economy, and entertainment’). During the 1890s, two more newspapers began to be published in Gospić: Hrvat: list za pouku, gospodarstvo i politiku (1895, ‘Croat: the paper for knowledge, economics and politics’) and Srbin (1898, ‘Serb’). At the beginning of the 20th century, a fourth newspaper appeared, Starčevićanac: Novine Starčevićeva kluba u Gospiću (1907/8, ‘The newspaper of the Starčević club of Gospić’). All of these publications represent a valuable source of information on the events and the general situation in Gospić and the surrounding area. Whatever the relationship among the editors of these newspapers and despite their varied political views, rather, thanks to them, it is possible to track the history of Gospić in the period from the disbanding of the military frontier to the First World War. While the other papers were for the most part concentrated on political issues, Ličanin paid most attention to general information concerning life in Gospić, and it can be labelled the most neutral newspaper among the four. This article presents information about the social, political, administrative and economic situation in Gospić at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. Careful reading of these newspapers led to the discovery of articles which shed light on poorly known details about the city, which, regrettably, do not appear in the historiographical research nor have merited their own monograph. Because of the travelogue of Ernest Kramberger (1903) we can visualize the look of the city and its inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century. As part of research undertaken for a doctoral dissertation on urbanism and architecture in Gospić, the article pays particular attention to information relating to these subjects.