Bluepages:Newspaper archives

Digital archives of historic newspapers, especially easily searchable ones, are one of the most powerful tools there is for building a historical directory like Bluepages. This page is intended to collect links to newspaper archives that can be accessed for free, either by anyone or by those with a library card from a given institution. The list is woefully incomplete, so if you know of any such websites that aren't listed yet, please feel free to add them. Please do not add any links to services which cannot be accessed without paying a fee, or which require a person to visit a library branch to access the content.

Common providers

NewsBank is one of the most common digitization providers on this list, since many of the papers it has digitized are freely accessible to anyone with a card from the public library in the newspaper's city or region. However, NewsBank does not freely host clippings, so it's recommended that anyone using NewsBank as a source for editing Bluepages should clip and download the relevant section, then upload and host the file somewhere permanent, such as the Internet Archive.

Google News hosts thousands of historical newspapers which are accessible for free. However, the project is no longer maintained, no new issues or papers have been added since 2009, and the existing pages are no longer searchable. Additionally, some newspapers have disappeared without warning after their digital archives were transferred to other services.

Advantage Preservation hosts hundreds of historical newspapers from the United States which are freely accessible and searchable. Advantage Preservation is an especially common provider for newspapers from Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska.

By contrast, Newspapers.com and NewspaperArchive are two of the largest digital newspaper archives in North America, but they require a paid subscription for access. They may provide free access to library cardholders for newspapers in some cities, however. As with NewsBank, the newspapers they have digitized should only be listed on this page if this access is offered.

Russia

• OldGazette (Старые газеты) has a collection of old Russian and Soviet newspapers in .DjVu and HTML format.

United States

Colorado

Denver

• The Denver Post (1989–present) and the Rocky Mountain News (1990–2009), digitized by NewsBank , can be accessed here by anyone with a Denver Public Library card.

Illinois

Springfield

• The Illinois State Journal (1831–1974), Illinois State Register (1891–1974), and State Journal-Register (1974–present), digitized by NewsBank , can be accessed here by anyone with a Lincoln Library card.

Michigan

Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Hills, and Birmingham

• The Bloomfield-Birmingham Eccentric (1882–1964) is freely accessible here in PDF format on the Bloomfield Township Public Library (Michigan) website.

Canton Township

• The Canton Observer (1974–present) is freely accessible here in PDF format on the Canton Public Library (Michigan) website. The archive is searchable through a Google site-specific query.

Dearborn

• The Dearborn Herald (1937–1938) is freely accessible here in PDF format on the Dearborn Public Library (Michigan) website.
• The Dearborn Independent (1905–1923) is freely accessible here in PDF format on the Dearborn Public Library (Michigan) website.
• The Dearborn Press (1918–1920) is freely accessible here in PDF format on the Dearborn Public Library (Michigan) website.
• The Dearborn Times-Herald (1964–2019) is freely accessible here in PDF format on the Dearborn Public Library (Michigan) website.
• The Springwells Star (1924) is freely accessible here in PDF format on the Dearborn Public Library (Michigan) website.
• The Springwells Tribune (1920–1924) is freely accessible here in PDF format on the Dearborn Public Library (Michigan) website.

Detroit

• The Detroit Sunday Journal (1995–1999) is freely accessible here on the Wayne State University Libraries website.

Downriver suburbs

• The Downriver Sunday Times (1993–2019) is freely accessible here in PDF format on the Dearborn Public Library (Michigan) website.

Romulus

• The Romulus Roman (1969–2008) is freely accessible here on the Internet Archive.

Westland

• The Westland Observer (1982–2017) is freely accessible here in PDF format on the William P. Faust Public Library website.

Wyandotte

• The Wyandotte Herald (1880–1943 here) and several short-lived publications from both Wyandotte and nearby Detroit and Flat Rock (here) are freely accessible on the Bacon Memorial District Library website.

Tennessee

Knoxville

• The Knoxville News Sentinel (1922–present), digitized by NewsBank , can be accessed here by anyone with a Knox County Public Library card.

Memphis

• The Memphis Commercial Appeal (1990–present), digitized by NewsBank , can be accessed here by anyone with a Memphis Public Libraries card.

Texas

Houston

• The Houston Chronicle (1901–2017, 2019–present), digitized by NewsBank , can be accessed here by anyone with a Houston Public Library card.
• The Houston Post (1893–1902 here, 1903–1924 here) can be accessed through the Portal to Texas History.

San Antonio

• The San Antonio News-Express (1990–present), digitized by NewsBank , can be accessed here by anyone with a San Antonio Public Library card.

Wisconsin

Milwaukee

• The Milwaukee Journal (1884–1995), Milwaukee Sentinel (1844–1995), and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1995–present), digitized by NewsBank , can be accessed here by Milwaukee County residents with a library card from any member institution of the Milwaukee County Federated Library System.

Wisconsin Dells

• The Kilbourn Mirror Gazette (1856–1911), Kilbourn Weekly Events (1903–1931), and Wisconsin Dells Events (1931–2013), as well as several short-lived publications from the area, are freely accessible through Advantage Preservation here.