XooxleAnswers

There are excellent free historical resources for old newspaper articles in the United States.  They cover a broad swath of U.S. history -- from the 18th to the 21st century --and cover state, city, town, county, and regional newspapers.   Headlines, articles, display ads, classifieds...they're all there for the taking. 

Here are the archives I've come across so far, all free ...

(see page bottom for more free links to international archives, magazines, college papers, foreign language newspapers, and other great resources).

New York Times Archives
The Times being a national newspaper, of sorts, I included it here.  All archives from 1853-1922 are free of charge, and some archives after that date are also free.  Use the site's pull-down menu to select date ranges. 

HistoryBuff.com

A very small collection -- just an archived page or two for any given year -- but it manages to capture most of the major events of the past three centuries.  The page images are very clear, especially the newspaper photographs.  No text searching, but you can browse by date and event. 

Chronicling America (Library of Congress)

This is both a good and frustrating collection.  Good, for the diversity of sources,quality of images, and ease of the search interface.  Frustrating, because there should be more from the nation's leading library.  Covers the years 1860-1922, and includes papers from California, District of Columbia, Florida, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. A few important African-American papers are part of the collection here.

NewspaperArchive.com  is an amazingly deep collection of archives, and one of my favorite resources on the web. It's not free (sorry!), but it's well worth a look.

Ancestry.com is also an excellent source for historical research...fee-based, but well worth it. 

Of note is this book about newspapers.  The 1876 Centennial Newspaper Exhibition gives details on every paper published in the US at that time. 

State, County and City Papers

Alabama

Birmingham Iron Age, 1874-1901.  A weekly newspaper from the very early days of this city.  The collection is incomplete, but offers full text searching and full page images.  Update: A few other newspapers have been added to this collection, provided by the Birmingham Public Library, including the Pratt City Herald.   

At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find about ten additional Alabama newspaper archives covering most of the 20th century. 

Assorted Birmingham, AL Newspaper Clippings from the Birmingham Public Library.  Search on article descriptions; not clear which papers or date ranges are covered. 

Alaska 

The Tundra Times, 1965-1997 (Fairbanks).  This is an odd archive, as it is a combination of article clippings and full page images.  Still, it is (so far) the only free newspaper archive available from Alaska, courtesy of the Tuzzy Consortium Library.    At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find more than twenty other Alaska archives covering most of the 20th century.

Arizona
Casa Grande (near Phoenix) Newspaper Archives, 1912-2007, courtesy of the Casa Grande Public Library.

The Little Cowpuncher, 1934-1943.  This is different!  A mimeographed newspaper published by school children reflecting life in rural Arizona in a time when kids gave their teachers cow heads as a gift.

Arkansas

The Journal-Advance (1869-1949), in Gentry (originally Orchard City) offers a detailed look at news from the Ozarks.  The paper is also known as the Courier-Journal.  At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find over a dozen other Arkansas archives covering the late 19th and all of the 20th century.

California
California Digital Newspaper Collection, approx 1849-1911
A small but growing collection from UC Riverside. Includes articles from Alta California, San Francisco Call, Amador Ledger, and the Los Angeles Herald, among others.  There are several viewing options, including downloadable PDFs.

The Covina Newspaper Archives (1895-1999)  include the Covina Argus and other papers, from this southern California area near Los Angeles. 

El Clamor Publico, 1855-1859 (Los Angeles).  One of California's earliest Spanish-language newspapers, courtesy of the Huntington Library and USC. 

Whittier Historical Newspaper Collection, 1883-1923.  From the Whittier Public Library, near Los Angeles.  Amazingly, the system only seems to download full newspapers, rather than individual pages or articles, so patience is required.   

New  Assorted 20th Century Newspaper Clippings, Oviatt Library, CSU Northridge.   A small collection, but includes many interesting clippings on Nazi and Communist activities in Southern California. 

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Colorado

Colorado Newspaper Archives from 1859-1923.  The Wild, Wild West!

Connecticut.  No free archives that I know of...please contact us if you know of any sources to include.  At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find several Connecticut newspaper archives covering a large portion of the 20th century.

Delaware.  No free archives that I know of...please contact us if you know of any sources to include.  At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find several Delaware newspaper archives covering a large portion of the 19th century.

District of Columbia (Washington DC).  No free archives that I know of...please contact us if you know of any sources to include.  At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find two newspaper archives covering a portion of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Florida

Florida Digital Newspaper Library archives, early 1800's to current.  There's a lot here, though the collection is not well-described.  Full text search and full image retrieval. 

Boca Raton, FL newspaper archives, 1930's-current, courtesy of the Boca Raton Historical Society.  

New  Central Florida Memory Newspaper Clippings.  Assorted digital files, including a mish-mash of a few thousand newspaper items.  Includes 19th century Lochmede Winter Park newspaper.

New  The Southern Israelite (1929-1958, 1984-1986).  Printed in Augusta and Atlanta, this newspaper is a reflection of the Jewish community during a time of Hitler, WWII, the Holocaust, and the formation of Israel.  An important historical resource.

Hawaii
Hawaii Newspaper Archives (in Hawaiian) from the mid-1800's to 1920's. 
An assorted collection of full image newspapers, browseable, but not searchable.

Hawaiian Language Nupepa Collection, 1834-1948
More Hawaiian language newspapers, mostly in image format, but with some word searching.

Idaho.  No free archives that I know of...please contact us if you know of any sources to include.  At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find more than a dozen Idaho newspaper archives covering a large portion of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Illinois
Barrington Review, Barrington, IL, 1914-1930

Illinois Digital Newspaper Collection, 1903-1945, at the University of Illinois

Currently carries the Daily Illini, the Urbana Daily Courier, and Express (from Tallula), in full page image format, with full text searching. 

Quincy Illinois Historical Newspaper Archive 1835-1890 

Flora Public Library Digital Newspapers, 1883-1926 (southern Illinois).  An intermittent collection, including the Southern Illinois Record, and Flora Journal Record.

The Sterling, IL Newspaper Archives, 1854-2007.  Includes the Sterling Gazette, Sauk Valley Sunday, and others.

Dziennik Zwiazkowy, a Polish language newspaper from Chicago, 1908-1917
(site was not working when last I checked). 

 The Farm, Field and Fireside Collection at the University of Illinois, 1841-1939.  What a lovely find.  A century of rural newspapers geared towards farmers.  Publications seem to be mostly weeklies from Illinois, but include other states as well.  Newspapers include Better Farming, Farmers Voice, Illinois Farmer, Prarie Farmer, and even the Farmer's Wife.

North Surburban Library System, IL (outside of Chicago).  Incredible mish mash of thousands of newspaper articles, along with other digital archives, but no real description...you just have to browse around to see what's what.

New  Forest Park Review, 1917-2009, courtesy of the Forest Park Public Library.

Indiana

Muncie Post Democrat Newspaper Collection at Ball State University, 1921-1950

Full text searching and full page PDFs.  Not the friendliest interface, though.

Evansville Press, ?-1998.  A local clippings collection, searchable by title and keyword.  Collection is not well-described, but includes a lot of material on the University of Indiana, especially basketball, especially Bobby Knight.

Vevay/Switzerland County Newspapers, 1840-1901.  Scanned newspaper pages (no text search, no keywords) from the Switzerland Co. HS.  Archives include The Vevay Times and Switzerland County Democrat, and The Vevay Reveille.

Iowa
Lots of Iowa Archives for some reason

Adams County, Iowa Newspaper Archives, 1876-2000

Cedar Rapids Library Newspaper Archives includes a number of Iowa newspapers, 1857-1998. 

Charles City Daily Press, Floyd County, 1930-1931.

Sioux County Newspaper Archives, in Iowa, from 1872-2000.

New  The Des Moines Newspaper Archives, 1970-2007.  Includes West Des Moines Express, Polk County News, and others.

New  The Malvern and Mills County Archives, 1864-2002.  Includes the Malvern Leader, Mills County Journal, and others. 

New  The Carroll Newspaper Archives, 1884-2007.  The Carroll Daily Times Herald and other papers.  Archives also include detailed early atlases of Carroll County. 

New  The Buffalo Center Tribune, 1894-2003. 

New  The Muscatine City Directories, 1856-1959.  No newspapers here, but a terrific set of directories from the Musser Library...I had to put them somewhere!

Kansas

New  Kansas Memory Digital Archives covers a smattering of 19th and early 20th century digital materials, including a few newspapers, which appear to include several hundred article clippings overall.  Papers include the Wichita Eagle, Topeka Journal,  Lawrence Daily Journal, and others.

At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find more than 100 additional Kansas newspaper archives covering the entire history of the territory and state. 

Kentucky
The Kentuckiana Digital Library has newspaper archives from 1886-1912 for papers across Kentucky, from the Bluegrass Blade in Lexington to the Owensboro Vindicator.  Full text searching, but an awkward interface.

New Northern Kentucky Newspaper Index, 1841-current.   An odd mix of full image searchable newspapers, and newspaper indexes.  Use the "full text" option to restrict results to images.  Collection from the Kenton Library. 

Louisiana

Louisiana Newspaper Access Program, 19th and early 20th century.  Part of the Louisiana Digital Library Collection, this is an interesting hodge-podge collection of English and French language news, with a not terribly friendly user interface. 

New Orleans Bee, 1827-1923.  From the Jefferson Parish Library, this English and French newspaper is a rich slice of history, but unfortunately, only browseable by date, with no text search offered. 

New  Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper,  and Harper's Weekly Journal, late 19th century.  Also from the Louisian Digital Library Collection, these appear to be images only. 

Maine.  No free archives that I know of...please contact us if you know of any sources to include.  At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find about ten Maine newspaper archives covering a large portion of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Maryland
The Marlyland State Archives have several newspapers online, mostly from the 1800's, though a few spill into early 1900's and one has issues from 1965.  These are digitized directly from microfilm, and can be browsed by date, but not searched. 

NewspaperArchive.com

 Even with all the free resources available, I still find newspaperarchive.com to be the most valuable resource available for researching history.  I've been a subscriber for years.  Take a look:   NewspaperArchive.com 

Massachusetts

Barnstable, MA, on Cape Cod, has the Barnstable Patriot from 1830-1930, the Hyannis Patriot, and the Sandwich Observer, all with full text searching, courtesy of the Sturgis Library.

Provincetown Banner and The Advocate, 1918 and 1931-67 (but missing 1935).  Full text searching, and full image retrieval. 

Diario de Noticias/Alvaro Diaria, 1919-1973 (in Portugese).   From the Claire T. Carney Library at UMass, an important resource for the Portugese-American community in New Bedford, with a rather complex search interface. 

New  Cape Cod and Chatham Newpaper Archives, 1871-2008. An intermittent collection courtesy of the Eldredge Public Library and Microsearch Corp.

At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find more than twenty other Massachusetts newspaper archives covering the 18th to the 21st century.

Michigan

The Saugatuck-Douglas Library in Michigan has digitized the Commercial Record, 1868-1959.  Keyword searching available, for this lumber and shipping community on Lake Michigan.   

 
Minnesota

Holt Weekly News and Northern Light, 1911-1952.  From the "Home of the Largest Co-operative Creamery in Marshall County" a terrific rural newspaper archive.

The Winona State University Newspaper Archives include several area papers from 1855-1960. 

Ancestry.com is an excellent source for historical research...fee-based, but well worth it. 
 

Mississippi.  No free archives that I know of...please contact us if you know of any sources to include.  At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find more than ten Mississippi newspaper archives covering a portion of the 20th century.

Missouri
Missouri Newspaper Archives appear to cover late 1800's to current, but dates not well described

Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune, 1889-2008.   A substantial archive of essentially two newspapers that eventually merged into one. 

Montana.  No free archives that I know of...please contact us if you know of any sources to include.  At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find more than twenty Montana newspaper archives covering a large portion of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Nebraska.  No free archives that I know of...please contact us if you know of any sources to include.  At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find several Nebraska newspaper archives covering a portion of the 20th century.

Nevada
Las Vegas Age newspaper archives in Nevada, 1905-1924, with some gaps in coverage.  Searching is on keywords rather than full text.

New  The Henderson Libraries Digital Collection includes two newspapers dating back to the 1940's and 1950's.  The Henderson Home News (1951-current) and  The Big Job, and Basic Bombardier newsletters, 1940s,  from the BMI magnesium plant in Henderson, NV during WWII.   The plant made millions (billions?) of tracer bullets for the war effort.

New Hampshire
New Hampshire Gazette, the first newspaper printed in New Hampshire.  Only one 4-page newspaper is here, but it's from 1756, and worth a look.


New Jersey
Cranbury Press, Cranbury, NJ, from 1886-1926, courtesy of the Cranbury Historical and Preservation Society.

Atlantic County, NJ (includes Atlantic City), 1860-1923

Red Bank Register, (Middletown, NJ) 1878-1947.  Full text searching.  Additional dates to be added, to bring the collection through 1991. 

South Amboy Citizen, 1910-1944.  Full page image, browse by date, only. 

The New Brunswick Daily Times and other area papers,  1871-1916.

New Mexico.  No free archives that I know of...please contact us if you know of any sources to include.  At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find more than fifty New Mexico newspaper archives covering a large portion of the 19th and 20th centuries.

New York
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1841-1902
One of my favorites...a great glimpse into 19th century New York.

The New York Times archives, 1853-current. 

All papers before 1923 are available free, and select papers after that date are also free.  Use the site's pull-down menu to select date ranges. 

Northern New York newspaper archives, 1844-2004
A scattered assortment of newspapers; can only be searched on paper at a time. 

Freedom's Journal, 1827-1829, the nation's first African-American newspaper, published out of New York City.  Housed at the Wisconsin Historical Society, these archives can be viewed and searched issue by issue, but there is no archive-wide search function.

The Friend of Man, 1836-1842, Central New York.  An anti-slavery newspaper, archived at Cornell University.

Suffolk County, Long Island, NY, roughly 1830's-1906, a good, diverse collection.

Old New York State Historical Newspaper Pages, 18th-20th centuries.  This has to be one of the oddest archives I know of, but with 10 million-plus newspaper pages from all over NY, it's certainly a very valuable one.  Be sure to view the FAQ for a description of what's what. 

Rochester area newspapers, from Monroe County Library, ca 1800's.  This is a very poorly-described and implemented collection of assorted newspapers, mostly individual issues, including Frederick Douglass' Paper, along with the Rochester Daily Democrat, The Rights of Man, and the Monroe Democrat.  There are also a few magazines, such as the Rochester Gem, and various local directories.

North Carolina

The North Carolina Newspaper Digitization Project, 1751-1898.  A smattering of newspapers from assorted periods in NC history, and from several places, including Edenton, Fayetteville, Hillsboro, New Bern, Salisbury and Wilmington.  Page images are keyword searchable. 

North Dakota
Frontier Scout, North Dakota's first newspaper, 1864-65.  About 20 issues are available online in full image format, but they are not searchable.

Ohio

Cleveland Press, 1878-1982.  Digitized article clippings, with full text search.  Incredibly, many of the articles do not show the date!  At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find more than 200 (!) newspaper archives covering the 19th and 20th centuries. 

 
Oklahoma
The Oklahoman, 1901-current.  This is a fee-based archive, but can be searched for free, and headlines retrieved (the searching has been very slow on the few times I've visited). 

Oregon.  No free archives that I know of, but see NW Archives at the top of this page for some options...please contact us if you know of other sources to include.  At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find the Oregonian  newspaper archives covering a portion of the 19th century.

Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, PA Jewish Newspaper Project, 1895-Present.  Includes three publications.

Philadelphia Inquirer Civil War Archive, from a Northern perspective, 1860-1865

Lancaster County, PA Newspaper Archives, 1816-1889, and 1915-2001.  Several newspapers online, including the curiously-named Columbia Spy. 

Tioga County, PA Newspaper Archives, 1838-2006, courtesy of the Green Free Public Library in Wellsboro, PA.

Penn State Newspaper Archives, offers several papers in their Civil War collection, along with archives of student newspapers, and clippings from Lancaster Farming from the 1950's onward.

Smethport, PA newspaper archives, McKean County, 1833-1977.  More than a dozen papers here, many of them with a heavy focus on the  mining industry, and all courtesy of the Hamlin Memorial Library. 

Pennsylvania Digital Archive, includes the Nazareth Item (1891-1975) and the new Holland Clarion in Lancaster County (1873-1950), along with many other digitized archives from Wilkes-Barre and elsewhere.  Good collection, but not well-described or user friendly.

Pennsylvania Civil War Newspaper Archives, 1831-1877.  Assorted papers from this critical period in US history; includes eight papers from Gettysburgh.  Full page images and full text search. 

The Chester, PA newspaper archives, 1876-1976, including the Chester Times, Delaware County Daily Times, and others.  From the Delaware County Library. 

New  Access Pennsylvania Digital Repository.  This is a real hodge-podge, and hard to describe, but there's a lot here, newspapers and otherwise.  Looks to be mostly 19th and early 20th centuries.  To find (mostly) just newspapers, used Advanced Search and enter newspaper and choose Description as the field to search on. 

New  Ambler Gazette, 1894-1931.  From the Wissahickon Valley Public Library in Montgomery County, a cumbersome archive (sorry!) browseable by date. 

Rhode Island.  No free archives that I know of...please contact us if you know of any sources to include.  At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find several Rhode Island newspaper archives covering a portion of the 19th and 20th centuries.

South CarolinaThe New South newspaper archives, 1862-1866, published in Port Royal and Beaufort, during the Civil War.  Archive is full-text searchable.

Souh Dakota.  No free archives that I know of...please contact us if you know of any sources to include.  At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find almost twenty South Dakota newspaper archives covering a large portion of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Tennessee.  No free archives that I know of...please contact us if you know of any sources to include.  At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find several Tennessee newspaper archives covering a portion of the 19th and 20th centuries.
 

Texas
San Antonio, TX Daily Light, 1886-1907.   

The Weimar Mercury, and other area papers, 1885-1960, from the collection of the Nesbitt Memorial Library. 

The Wellington Leader, 1909-2006, from the Collingsworth Public Library. 

Archives of the La Marque Times, 1970-1998.

Utah
Utah Digital Newspapers Collection, varied papers, approx 1850s-1950s

Vermont.  No free archives that I know of...please contact us if you know of any sources to include.  At  NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service, you can find archives for the Bennington Banner, covering a portion of the 20th century.

Virginia

Richmond Then and Now, 1860-1989.  A small collection of articles covering the history of this storied city.  Text-only. 

Virginia Gazette, 1736-1780.  An important 18th century resource from the Revolutionary War era, users can browse by date or search articles by a master index. 

Richmond Daily Dispatch, 1860-1865.   Another smallish collection, covering the Civil War (or the War Between the States) from a Confederate perspective.


Washington
Washington State Newspaper Archives, approx. 1850-1890's.   Numerous papers from around the state,  including Spokane, Seattle, and Puget Sound.

 Port Townsend Morning Leader, 1903-1910.  Select Port Towsend Leader from the Collections list to search just the newspaper. 

New Walla Wallop, 1944-1946.  From the Walla Walla Army Air Base (before there was a USAF), the official WWII base newspaper.  Nice collection. 

Wisconsin
Wisconsin Newpaper Archives, mostly from the period 1860-1940, thousands of searchable newspaper clippings

Ancestry.com is an excellent source for historical research...fee-based, but well worth it.

Wyoming

New  Wyoming Newspaper Project, 1867-1930.  Lots of papers here from Cheyenne, Cody, Casper, and across the state.  The images I viewed were surprisingly sharp and clear.

Free Magazines

NewspaperArchive.com

 Even with all the free resources available, I still find newspaperarchive.com to be the most valuable resource available for researching history.  I've been a subscriber for years.  Take a look:   NewspaperArchive.com 

And some other archives to note:

Early America, 1750-1790
Only three pages on view here, one of the from Ben Franklin's Gazette.

The Stars and Stripes from WWI, 1918-1919
Here's a look at one of the seminal events of modern history.
The American Soldier's newspaper of World War I

Chronicling America, 1900-1910, the Library of Congress' rather scant collection of assorted newspapers.

Genealogy Images of History
This is a link to an odd commercial site...basically someone's personal collection of old newspapers. But it's well indexed, for looking up people and place names, in case you want to purchase the page with that name.

GenealogyBank
Worth noting, even though it's a subscription site.  Deep collection, with newspapers and other assorted records going back to the late 1600's. Searching is free, and will pull up a snippet, but...naturally...you'll have to subscribe to see the full page images.

The Labor Press Project 

Includes numerous examples of labor and socialist publications with titles like The Agitator.  Not searchable, and not a deep resource, but there are many items here not available elsewhere.  Site has a Pacific NW focus, and mostly early 20th century. 

FreeNewspaperArchives.us

Another compilation of free newspaper archives, focusing on US papers, and organized on a region-by-region basis. 

There's more on the next page!

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See XooxleAnswers' write-up on newspaper archives at eHow.com

Visit freenewspaperarchives.us for more links to historical newspapers