Free Newspaper Archives in the US
Explore 250 Years of US Newspaper Archives, Free of Charge
History, Politics, War, Sports, Family Background, and Plain Old Everyday News
The South
The Southern states in the US have always had a strong regional identity, as can be seen in these free newspaper archives from the South, going back in history hundreds of years.
Alabama
New Birmingham Iron Age, 1874-1887. A valuable collection from the Birmingham Public Library, covering the very early days of Birmingham history. The collection is incomplete, but also includes numerous clippings from other newspapers and magazines. Additional Alabama archives can be found at NewspaperArchive.com
, a subscription service.
Arkansas
The Journal-Advance (1869-1949), in Gentry. Originally called Orchard City, Gentry newspaper archives gives a good look at 19th and early 20th century life in the Ozarks. Additional Arkansas archives can be found at NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service.
Florida
Florida Digital Newspaper Library archives, early 1800's to current. There's a lot of history and content here, though I wish the collection was betterl-described. Full text search and full images.
Boca Raton, FL newspapers, 1930's-current. Archives courtesy of the Boca Raton Historical Society.
Georgia
Georgia Historical Newspapers, 1750-1925. A very diverse collection, from the 18th century, forward.
Louisiana
Louisiana Newspaper Access Program, 19th and early 20th century. From the Louisiana Digital Library Collection, this is an interesting collection of English and French language news. A useful, though not very user friendly site.
New Orleans Bee, 1827-1923. In English and French, this is a nice window into early New Orleans history. Courtesy of the Jefferson Parish Library; browseable by date, with no text search.
North Carolina
New North Carolina Newspaper Digitization Project, 1751-1898. A mixed bag of newspapers from different years, and different places around the state, including Edenton, Fayetteville, Hillsboro, New Bern, Salisbury and Wilmington.
South Carolina
Archives for a paper called The New South, 1862-1866, published in Port Royal and later in Beaufort, SC during the Civil War. Archive has full-text search.
Virginia
Richmond Then and Now, 1860-1989. A small collection of articles covering some historical highlights from this storied city. Text-only.
Virginia Gazette, 1736-1780. An important 18th century resource from the time of the Revolutionary War. Can be browsed by date or searched by keyword.
New Port Townsend Morning Leader, 1903-1910. From the 'Collections' list, select Port Towsend Leader to search just the newspaper.
Other Southern States Archives
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