Do you have ancestors from Kentucky or Pennsylvania? We’re thrilled to announce our newspaper archives from these states are expanding!

The Paducah Sun: Paducah, Kentucky is located just past the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers and is home to The Paducah Sun. Our archives date back to 1896 and contain more than 1.5 million pages from The Sun and related titles including The Sunday Chat; the Paducah Weekly Sun; the News-Democrat; the Weekly News-Democrat; and the Paducah-Sun Democrat.

These papers covered important developments in the history of Paducah including steamboat commerce and railroad growth. One historic event that made Paducah headlines was the flood of 1937. Weeks of steady rain followed by sleet caused the Ohio River to crest at 60.8 feet. Flood waters consumed the city and some 27,000 citizens were evacuated. Many residents were trapped in their homes or stranded on the upper floors of downtown buildings. Following the disaster, the US Army Corps of Engineers constructed a 14-foot high floodwall. In the early 1990s, in an effort to beautify downtown Paducah, one citizen suggested painting murals along the floodwall. In 1996, the city hired an artist to paint more than 50 murals that depict the history of Paducah.

If you have ancestors from Paducah, society columns are a great place to piece together your family story. They often mention travels, and births and deaths.

The Daily Item: Based in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, The Daily Item archives go back to 1894. Thomas Edison made a mark in Sunbury in 1883 when he installed and successfully tested the first three-wire electric lighting system in a local Sunbury hotel. The hotel’s name was later changed to the Edison Hotel in his honor. Electricity in Sunbury led to one of the first electric streetcar systems in the country. In 1906, the State of Pennsylvania established a bureau to record all the state’s births and deaths. Before then, newspapers like The Daily Item published birth announcements and obituaries.

Just 13 miles from Sunbury is the town of Danville. We have archives from the Danville Morning News and the Danville News that date back to 1898. In the 19^th century, Danville became an important stop along the early transportation routes that included railroads, the Susquehanna River, and roads. Does your family tree contain an orphan from the Danville area? These newspapers are a great resource for information about institutions like the Mother House of Christian Charity and the Odd Fellows’ Orphans Home.

In 1919, during the early days of aviation, Danville residents poured into the streets to see an airplane. For many, it was their first time! The government plane circled the town dropping leaflets advertising Victory Liberty Loans (war bonds) to fund the war effort.

These stories are just a sampling of many fun and historical stories in these newspapers. Get started searching our Kentucky and Pennsylvania archives today at Newspapers.com!

Do you have ancestors from New Jersey or Kentucky? This month we’re excited to announce additions to our archives from these states!

The Coast Star is a weekly paper from the beachside community of Manasquan, New Jersey. Our archives date back to 1899 when the paper was known as The Coast Democrat. The population of Manasquan was just 1,500 back then – small enough that when a local mother wanted to visit a neighbor while her baby napped, she simply called the operator and left the line open so the operator could notify her if the baby cried.

After the turn of the century, beach cottages, many belonging to residents of nearby New York City, began springing up along the New Jersey coast. In 1930, plans were made to dredge the Manasquan inlet and open the waterway for boat traffic. Residents soon found that bootleggers were using the waterway to transport booze (it was the middle of prohibition) and stepped up patrols.

The Ocean Star is published weekly in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, just a couple of miles away from Manasquan and serves the northern Ocean County area. It launched in 1998 and among other news, chronicled heavy damage along the New Jersey coast from Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

The Franklin Favorite hails from Franklin, Kentucky. Our archives date back to 1887 and are a valuable resource for research in Franklin and surrounding communities like Russellville, Richland, Price’s Mill, and Stevenson; and Northern Tennessee towns like Springfield and Orlinda.

The paper reported on local landmark Octagon Hall. The octagon-shaped home was built in 1859 by Andrew Jackson Caldwell and served as a refuge for Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. Caldwell’s son remembered Confederate soldiers camping in the yard. He also recalled the time a weary soldier needed a place to sleep for the night. The family took him in and soon discovered the soldier was Caldwell’s long, lost nephew! 

The Messenger-Inquirer is published in Owensboro, Kentucky. Our archives go back to 1890 when the paper was known as The Messenger. In 1929, The Messenger was sold to the owners of The Owensboro Inquirer. The two papers merged and became known as The Messenger-Inquirer. Now owned by Paxton Media Group, the paper has a rich history in Owensboro.

Like other Kentucky communities, Owensboro’s history is closely tied to the area’s distilleries, and Owensboro has recently been named part of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. The Messenger-Inquirer also covers surrounding communities like Pleasant Ridge, Cleopatra, and Nuckols. The Neighborhood News column is a great place to search for relatives from nearby towns.

Get started searching our updated New Jersey and Kentucky archives today!

This month we’re excited to announce that our Canadian newspaper archives are expanding! We’ve added several papers from publisher Postmedia Network and will be adding more pages and titles through 2019!  We have papers from Ontario, Québec, British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba. Here’s just a sampling of what you’ll find.

Parliament Burns – February 1916
The Ottawa Citizen

The Montréal Gazette: Founded in 1778, the Montréal Gazette is one of the oldest newspapers in North America. Though originally published in French, the Gazette has been English-only since 1822. Montréal is Canada’s second largest city and established itself early on as an important center for the fur trade. Our earliest issues date back to 1857 when the Gazette published this ad for fur coats made from beaver, doeskin or Siberian fur. This story printed in 1858 teaches readers how to care for and clean their furs. In the late 1800s, expansion on the St. Lawrence River canal system began. The river provided a water shipping corridor and the Grand Trunk Railway provided a land connection, enabling Montréal to undergo rapid growth industrialization. The Gazette recorded births, marriages, and deaths of many of Montréal’s citizens. It also reported on a tragic fire in 1927 at the Laurier Palace Theatre that killed 78 children who had gathered to watch a silent film.

The Calgary Herald: With issues dating back to 1888, we have papers chronicling life in Calgary for the past 130 years! The Herald was initially published in a tent at the junction of the Bow and Elbow rivers in 1883. Early on, Fort Calgary was established as an outpost for the Mounted Police. As homestead land became available, the population grew along with Calgary’s mining and ranching industries. The world-famous Calgary Stampede started in 1912 and celebrates that ranching heritage. In 1914, the discovery of oil at the Dingman well created a frenzy that died down as the First World War began.

Edmonton Journal: In 1903, around the time Edmonton got its first railway, three newsmen printed the first edition of the Edmonton Journal in the back of a fruit store. The population was just 4,000 back them, and the Journal has chronicled the growth for the past 115 years! In 1947, the Imperial Oil Company struck a rich deposit of “black gold.” The oil discovery sent the population of the city booming and cemented Alberta’s reputation as a province rich in oil and gas.

The Ottawa Citizen:  Royal Engineers set up a campsite in present day Ottawa during construction of the Rideau Canal (now a UNESCO World Heritage Site). In 1845, the Citizen published its first edition and 12 years later Ottawa was named Canada’s capital by Queen Victoria. Our archives begin in 1898 and cover notable events like the great Ottawa-Hull fire that destroyed a large tract of Ottawa and most of Hull in 1900. The “Social and Personal” column is a great place to search for historic news of your Ottawa ancestors!

Our Canadian newspaper archives are a great way to research your Canadian ancestors or Canadian history. Check back often as we’re updating this collection regularly. Get started searching our Canadian archives today!

This month we’re excited to highlight a few of our papers by publisher Lee Enterprises. If you have roots in Wisconsin, North Dakota, or the quad cities of northwest Illinois and southeast Iowa, these newspaper archives are a valuable resource!

Wisconsin State Journal: In 1848, Wisconsin became the 30th state. That same year, printer turned publisher David Atwood purchased a small paper called the Wisconsin Express that would later become the Wisconsin State Journal. We have issues of the State Journal dating back to 1852! The State Journal has chronicled news, births, deaths, anniversaries and community news from the greater Madison area for more than 175 years!

One story that shocked the nation happened in 1914. Noted architect and Wisconsin native Frank Lloyd Wright built his famous home Taliesin outside Madison in Spring Green. The home was the scene of a brutal mass murder when a deranged servant murdered Wright’s companion Mamah Borthwick, her two children, and four others at Taliesin by setting fire to the house and then killing the occupants with an ax as they tried to escape.

Bismarck Tribune: In the 1870s, railroads were given land grants to expand the rail system into the Dakota territory. In June 1873, the first train rolled into Bismarck carrying a hand-set press. Within a month, the first edition of the Bismarck Tribune was published. In this introduction in the first issue, the paper urged citizens to support it and help bring prosperity to the tiny settlement. The Bismarck Tribune is the oldest paper still published in North Dakota. It advocated for the relocation of the Territorial Capital from Yankton to Bismarck, and then lobbied aggressively for statehood. The paper recorded notable events like the fire of 1898 when flames raced through downtown buildings constructed of wood; or the floods in 1952 when snowmelt and ice backed up causing major damage in the city.

The Rock Island Argus and The Dispatch: The archives for these two papers (that later combined to form the Dispatch-Argus) are a great resource for anyone with roots along the Mississippi River in the quad cities of Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline, Illinois; and Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa. The Rock Island Argus gets its name from the largest island in the Mississippi River (now known as Arsenal Island) and is one of Illinois’ oldest papers. We have issues that date back to 1855, about the time the railroad expanded to the island. This clipping from 1859, urges residents to play an active role in bringing industry to town. The island housed a fort, and later an arsenal, and was a hub of activity during the World Wars. Clippings like this one from 1863 listing citizens who have a letter to claim at the Post Office are a great way to research ancestors who lived on Rock Island.

A few miles from Rock Island lies Moline, Illinois – home to The Dispatch with papers dating back to 1894. The paper recorded the dramatic fire that ignited in the psychiatric ward of Mercy Hospital, known as St. Elizabeth’s, in 1950. Frantic patients trapped behind windows locked shut by rusty bars fought to escape. Before it was over, 41 lost their lives.

To see these newspapers and other titles, search our archives at Newspapers.com!

This month we head across the pond to highlight our British collection of newspapers. We have papers from cities across England. We also have issues from Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. Our archives date back to 1700 and cover more than 300 years of history.

This clipping from The Post Man and The Historical Account from 1700, advertises a book that scholars consider the world’s first scientific journal. It was published by Sir Hans Sloane. Sloane was King George’s doctor, a scientist, and an avid collector of objects from all around the world. Upon his death, Sloane willed his collection of 71,000 items to Britain. This collection became the foundation for the British Museum.

The events leading up to the Revolutionary War are covered from a British perspective in this collection. In one last attempt to avoid war, The Derby Mercury published this letter sent by the Continental Congress to “The Inhabitants of Britain” in 1775. The letter asked for compassion and understanding and pointed out injustices.

The American Revolution has been just one of many conflicts covered by British papers. This dispatch published in The Morning Post in 1814 described when the British set fire to the White House. “The following buildings were set fire to and consumed – the Capitol, including the Senate-house and House of Representation, the arsenal and the President’s palace,” the report said.

The royal family has long dominated British newspaper headlines. In 1837, the papers reported on the crowning of Queen Victoria. The Jackson’s Oxford Journal celebrated her marriage to Prince Albert; and this 1861 headline in The Morning Chronicle announced the death of Prince Albert.

Queen Victoria reigned during a time of rapid industrial growth. British newspapers recorded the deaths of many men, women and children who worked in unsafe working conditions in factories and mines.

The Shefflield and Rotherham Independent reported on a violent storm in 1838. It filled ventilation shafts with water at the Huskar Colliery, resulting in the deaths of 26 child mine workers. Queen Victoria pressed for an inquiry on working conditions. In 1842, the Children’s Employment Commission released a report that made its way to the papers and caused a sensation. The report found it was not uncommon for children as young as five to work 12-hour days in the mines. They hauled heavy loads through narrow shafts, some just 18-inches tall. The Mines and Collieries Act of 1842 was designed to protect women and children from these conditions.

Industrialization led to increased pollution. The Guardian reported on the great smog of 1952. An anticyclone caused high pressure that trapped pollutants and formed a layer of smog over London. Visibility was reduced to inches. The smog claimed more than 4,000 lives during the 5-day event, and thousands more after.

To learn more about these stories, or to research your British ancestors, search our British collection on Newspapers.com!

If you have ancestors from Kansas or an interest in Kansas history, we’re pleased to announce a partnership with the Kansas Historical Society that will ultimately make available nearly 11 million pages of newspapers, primarily from pre-1923. We’re halfway through digitizing this collection and adding more records every day! The entire archive will be digitized by year’s end!

Kansas became the 34^th state in 1861, months before the start of the Civil War. In a clipping from The Lecompton Sun, an early Kansas pioneer remembered the conflict over slavery that led to bloody battles in Kansas in an era known as the Border War or Bleeding Kansas. Lecompton’s Constitution Hall is where the territorial government drafted a pro-slavery constitution which would be used for obtaining Kansas statehood. This constitution was ultimately rejected at a national level and never went into effect.

After the Civil War, railroads expanded to Kansas. Military posts were installed to protect the railroad. This led to the creation of small towns dotting the rail line and plenty of newcomers. This clipping from The Dodge City Daily Globe in 1912 heralded the new railroad that would double the town’s population — unless, of course, you wanted to “Get Outta Dodge!”

Newspapers from early Kansas communities provide a glimpse into the daily life of settlers. This page from the Weekly Republican in Cherryvale is a typical example. Like many other Kansas towns, the population of Cherryvale tripled from 1880-1890 because of westward expansion. Early newspapers recorded births, deaths, and other details of settlers lives.

Expansion led to increased confrontation with Native American tribes as their land was given to whites. This clipping from the El Dorado Republican recounts the incredible story of a woman kidnapped by the Sioux tribe in 1877. She later concluded that Native Americans had been treated unjustly by settlers. Tribes were forced to smaller reservations and tensions were high.

In 1874, Russian immigrants arrived in Goessel, and according to legend, came with kitchen crocks full of Turkey Red winter wheat seed. The wheat berries contained more protein and proved well-suited for the climate. Until then, corn was the Kansas crop of choice. Today Kansas is one of the world’s top wheat producing regions.

In 1886, developer Ben Blanchard was drilling for oil when he hit salt instead. The town of Hutchinson sprang up and the Kansas salt industry was born.

The famous landmarks of Castle Rock and Monument Rocks in Gove County have been landmarks for many including explorer John C. Freemont and travelers on the Overland Trail. Monument Rocks was the first designated National Natural Landmark in Kansas. The monuments have also been a gathering spot for many Kansans over the years.

Search our archives to learn more about Kansas history or to document your early Kansas ancestors through this historical newspaper collection!

Montana’s nickname is the “Treasure State.” You can join the treasure hunt by exploring our updated archives for newspapers in Montana! We’ve added issues from The Billings Gazette; The Montana Standard in Butte; The Independent Record in Helena; and The Missoulian.

Our archives date back to 1874, two years before the Battle of the Little Bighorn between Native Americans and George Armstrong Custer, and 15 years before Montana achieved statehood!

After parts of Montana were acquired through the Louisiana Purchase, President Thomas Jefferson sent the expedition of Lewis and Clark to survey the land. Clark left his name chiseled on a rock about 25 miles outside of Billings.

The Billings Gazette: The first edition of The Billings Gazette in 1885 almost didn’t happen. A fire roared through the building destroying the press. After salvaging the pieces, the first editorial lobbied for the creation of a fire department. Billings earned the nickname “Magic City” after the Northern Pacific Railway came to town in 1882 and the city experienced rapid growth. Within months, nearly two thousand buildings were erected. The paper recorded the worst train wreck in Montana history when a 1938 flash flood roared through a creek bed weakening a trestle bridge. A train crashed through the bridge sending rail cars plunging into the water below.

The Montana Standard: We have issues dating from 1928. Read how Butte got its start with the discovery of gold, silver and copper. The city earned the nickname “The Richest Hill on Earth,” after billions worth of metals were mined at the Anaconda and other mines. A tragic 1917 mining disaster resulted in the loss of at least 166 lives when a carbide lamp ignited a blaze that spread throughout the shafts trapping miners.

The Independent Record: With issues dating back to 1874, early editorials were sympathetic to the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. (known as “The Company.”) The Company owned The Independent Record in the 1920s. In 1959, Lee Enterprises purchased the paper allowing an independent and open community forum.

Early Helena prospectors struck gold in 1864, in a creek they named Last Chance Gulch. Helena became the territorial capital of Montana. In 1894, the paper lobbied for Helena to become the state capital. Helena was a gold camp that would grow up to become a permanent thriving city.

The Missoulian: We have issues dating back to 1892! Read about the establishment of the University of Montana in 1895 where Missoula native Jeannette Rankin was educated. She was the first woman elected to Congress in 1916 – before women in American could vote! Rankin was a leader in the suffrage movement and introduced legislation in 1919 that led to the enfranchisement of all women.

To learn more about the rich history of Montana, search our archives at Newspapers.com!

If you have ancestors from Georgia, or you’re interested in Civil War history or Georgia history, we’re thrilled to add The Atlanta Constitution to our growing newspaper archives. We have issues dating back to 1868!

The Constitution started in 1868. The nation was just emerging from the Civil War. The city of Atlanta had been virtually destroyed just four years earlier when General William T. Sherman’s troops set fire as they left, burning 4,500 homes. Only 400 homes survived. The smoldering ruins had cooled but wounds were still raw. Atlanta was operating under martial law.

Three partners got together to buy a small newspaper, The Opinion. Carey Wentworth Styles, James H. Anderson, and W.A. Hemphill decided it was time to lift martial law and return to a constitutional form of government. They changed the paper’s name to The Constitution.

The population of Atlanta was small back then. The entire city could fit in SunTrust Park with seats to spare! Atlanta welcomed new arrivals with open arms. Help was needed to rebuild. When a ship full of immigrants from Germany was blown off course and ended up in the South instead of Baltimore, an article reprinted in the Atlanta Constitution said, “We extend a hearty welcome to the new comers.” They are “just such as are needed at this time to rebuild broken fortunes of our beloved State and City.”

Evan P. Howell, a great rebuilder of the city, bought a controlling interest in the paper in 1876. In 1887, The Constitution introduced the South’s first women’s page called “Society Salad.” It announced marriages, cotillions, anniversaries, and news from outlying communities like Buford and Conyers. It’s a wonderful resource for piecing together the family tree of early citizens.

Today, Atlanta is Georgia’s largest city and a center of culture and industry. Coca-Cola was founded here in 1891. One of the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson International, started out as the tiny Candler Field in 1925. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born and is buried here, and the city hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics.

The Atlanta Constitution, as the paper came to be known, attracted top notch talent like Clark Howell and Henry W. Grady who helped shaped the paper and the city. In 1950, The Atlanta Constitution and The Atlanta Journal merged ownership but continued to operate separate papers until 2001 when they combined publication. Today Cox Media Group maintains The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s dominant position as the largest daily newspaper publisher in the Southeast. The paper has been awarded numerous Pulitzer Prizes.

You can access issues of The Atlanta Constitution through 1922 with a basic subscription; issues between 1923-2001 are copyrighted and accessible with Publisher Extra. Search The Atlanta Constitution archives here.

Hoosier Momma? If you’re looking to fill in blanks in your family tree from the Hoosier state, or have an interest in history from Northwest Indiana, then you’ll be delighted to know we’ve added the Northwest Indiana Times to our growing archives. Issues on Newspapers.com date back to 1906.

The Times started out as The Hammond Daily Tribune in 1883. George Hammond, the town’s namesake, was a butcher who patented refrigerated rail cars. He was looking to expand beyond Chicago for the stockyard industry. Available land, the abundance of ice on Lake Michigan, and refrigerated rail cars provided the perfect place to purchase land and open a large slaughterhouse. Many of the area’s early settlers were immigrants from Germany. Hammond hired them for their skills as butchers and sausage-makers. However, because they couldn’t read English, newspaper circulation was stagnant.

That changed in 1906 when Sidmon McHie, a wealthy Chicago grain and stock broker, purchased the struggling Hammond Daily Tribune with the intent to market the paper beyond the city of Hammond. He changed the name to The Lake County Times. Circulation increased dramatically. McHie and his wife Isabel lived a colorful life that mirrored his headlines. Social issues of the day such as the Jazz Age, flappers and divorce were covered by the paper.

The McHies became front page news themselves when Isabel was caught throwing $10,000 from a moving train. She attempted to throw away another $173,000 before police stopped her. The McHies’ eventually divorced.

The Lake County Times regularly published society pages that included news from surrounding towns like St. John, Lowell, Merrillville and others. These pages are a valuable research tool and give a glimpse into everyday life for Lake County’s early citizens. This issue dated April 8, 1922 is an example.

After the death of McHie, his nephew James S. DeLaurier took over. He sought to widen the audience and dropped Hammond from the paper’s name. In 1962, the McHie family sold the paper to Robert S. Howard. Offices were moved to Munster in 1989 and the masthead was simplified to read The Times. In 2002 Lee Enterprises purchased The Times. It is one of the largest newspapers in the state.

You can access issues of The Times through 1922 with a basic subscription; issues between 1923-2018 are copyrighted and accessible with Publisher Extra! Search our archives for The Times here.