Michigan Online Historical Newspapers Summary

Michigan is one of the states who do not have a central online repository for searching historical newspapers. Several states use the Library of Congress Chronicling America site as their main central online site for searching old newspapers. And a few have a central portal for many of the newspapers that have been digitized. The online newspaper titles are available from several different sites, many free and many require a subscription. Below is a list of where the titles are stored and the link so that you can access them. 

There are around 4,000 newspapers that have been published in the Wolverine State - certainly not all of them are searchable online. But there are quite a few that are indeed available. So go for it - find your Michigan ancestors and all the interesting articles that capture the stories of their lives. 

Please note that I have not always entered the dates that are included in the collections, as I suspect they will change as more items are digitized. Also I suspect that some of these links may change over time - so if there is a dead link - please use your favorite search engine to find their new location. 

(Updated November, 2014)

Free Sites:

Collections:

Chronicling America - Michigan

• Alpena 1871-1893 Alpena weekly argus. 
  
• Alpena 1893-1909 Alpena argus. 
  
• Brockway Centre 1882-1894 Weekly expositor. 
  
• Calumet 18??-1907 The Copper country evening news. 
  
• Calumet 1907-1938 The Calumet news. 
  
• Cheboygan 1875-1885 Northern tribune. 
  
• Constantine 1836-1838 Constantine republican. 
  
• Dowagiac 18??-1880 The Cass County Republican. 
  
• East Jordan 189?-1953 Charlevoix county herald. 
  
• East Saginaw 1859-18?? East Saginaw courier. 
  
• Grand Haven 1851-18?? Grand River times. 
  
• Grand Haven 1858-18?? The Grand Haven news. 
  
• Grand Rapids 18??-1892 Telegram-herald. 
  
• Grand Rapids 188?-18?? Grand Rapids morning telegram. 
  
• Owosso 18??-1882 The Owosso times. 
  
• Owosso 1882-1897 The times. 
  
• Owosso 1897-1926 The Owosso times. 
  
• Paw Paw 1855-1920 The true northerner. 
  
• Yale 1894-current The Yale expositor. 
  
• Ypsilanti 1843-1900 Ypsilanti sentinel. 
  

Other Free Sites:

(Recent changes in the Google News Archive has diminished the capability to search newspapers published prior to 1970). A few of these below are in the Google News Archive.) 

Please also note that below is a list by county and by city.  The links in each list are not duplicated but there is a little overlap.


BY COUNTY

Allegan County 

• Commercial Record, Saugatuck-Douglas 
  

Alpena County 

• Alpena Argus 
  
• Alpena Weekly Argus
  

Benzie County 

• Benzie Banner
  
• Benzie Record Patriot
  
• Benzonia Citizen 
  
• The Elberta Alert  
  
• The Frankfort Express 
  
• Frankfort Times 
  
• South Frankfort Alert 
  

Calhoun County 

• Adventist Review and Herald 
  
• Calhoun Country Patriot 
  
• The Michigan Tribune 
  

Cass County 

• Cass County Republican -Dowagiac
  

Charlevoix County 

• Charlevoix County Herald
  

Cheboygan County 

• Northern Tribune -Cheboygan  
  
• Cheboygan Democrat 
  

Clare County Press

• Clare Courier 
  
• Clare County Cleaver
  
• Clare Democrat 
  
• Clare Democrat and Press
  
• Clare Press
  
• Clare Sentinel 
  
• Clare Sentinel and Democrat Press 
  
• The Farwell News 
  

Houghton County 

• Copper Country Evening News
  
• Calumet News
  

Ingham County 

• The Michigan State Journal
  
• State News- Michigan State University Student Newspaper 
  

Isabella County 

• Central Normal Life 
  
• Central State Life 
  
• Central Michigan Life Student Newspaper Archive
  
• Isabella County Enterprise 
  

Kalkaska County 

• The Leader and Kalkaskian 
  
• Grand Rapids Press 
  
• Grand Rapids Morning Telegram
  
• Telegram Herald
  

Midland County 

• Historical Midland Newspapers 
  

Oakland County 

• Lake Orion Review
  

Otsego County 

• Gaylord Herald Times 
  

Ottawa County 

• Grand Haven News
  
• Grand River Times -Grand Haven
  

Saginaw County 

• East Saginaw Courier  
  

Saint Clair County 

• Weekly Expositor -Brockway Centre
  
• The Yale Expositor
  

Saint Joseph County 

• Constantine Republican 
  

Shiawassee County 

• Corunna Journal 
  
• Corunna News 
  
• Owosso Argus Press
  
• The Owosso Times
  

Tuscola County 

• Cass City Chronicle 
  
• Mayville Monitor
  

Van Buren County 

• Gobles Newspaper
• The True Northerner
  

Washtenaw County 

• The Ann Arbor Argus
• Ann Arbor Signal of Liberty
  
• Ann Arbor Sun
  
• The Michigan Daily
  
• Reporter
  
• The Saline Observer 
  
• Saline Reporter
  
• Saline Review
  
• Ypsilanti Sentinel 
  

Wayne County 

• Detroit Gazette
  
• Grosse Pointe Public Library Local History Archives: Newspapers  
  

             Grosse Pointe Civic News
             Grosse Pointe News
             Grosse Pointe Review

• Detroit Jewish News
  
• The Northville Record 
  

Wexford County 

• Cadillac Evening News
  
• Wexford County Pioneer
  

BY CITY

Adrian 

• Daily Press
  
• Weekly Press
  

Ann Arbor   

• Ann Arbor Argus 
• Ann Arbor Argus-Democrat 
• Ann Arbor Journal 
• Ann Arbor Record 
• Ann Arbor Register 
• Courier-Register 
• Local News and Advertiser 
• Michigan Daily 
• Michigan State Journal 
• Pensinsular Courier and Family Visitant 
• Peninsula Courier & Ann Arbor Visitant 
• Peninsujlar Courier
• Signal of Liberty
• State Journal 
• Washtenaw Whig 
• Weekly Michigan Argus 
  

Battle Creek

• Adventist Review and Herald 
  
• Michigan Tribune 
  

Bay City

• L'Ouest Francais
  

Bessemer

• Bessemer Herald 
  

Big Rapids

• Big Rapids Current 
  

Cass City

• Cass City newspapers
  

Chelsea

• Chelsea District Library Newspaper Archives 
  

Detroit

• Detroit Gazette
  

Farmington

• Farmington Newspapers
  

Flint

• Genesee Democrat
  
• Genesee Whig
  
• Sunday Democrat
  
• Wolverine Citizen
  

Gaylord

• Gaylord Herald Times
  
• Otsego County Newspaper Archive
  

Gobles

• Gobles News
  

Grosse Pointe

• Grosse Pointe Newspapers
  

Kalamazoo

• Kalamazoo College Index
  
• Kalamazoo Public Library Publications
  

Lake Orion

• Lake Orion Review
  

Lansing

• Lansing State Republican
  

Ludington

• Ludington Appeal
  
• Ludington: Ludington Chronicle
  
• Ludington: Ludington Daily News
  
• Ludington: Ludington Record
  
• Ludington: Ludington Record-Appeal
  
• Ludington: Mason County Record
  

Manchester

• Manchester Enterprise
  

Manistee

• Manistee Broadaxe
  
• Manistee Standard
  
• Manistee Times
  
• Manistee Times-Sentinel
  
• Manistee Weekly Times
  
• Times and Standard
  

Marshall

• Marshall Statesman
  

Middleville

•  Middleville Sun
  

Mt Pleasant

• Central Michigan Life Newspaper Archive
  
• North-Western Tribune
  

Muskegon

• Le Devoir
  

Niles

• Niles Republican
  

Northville

• Northville Record
  

Owosso

• Evening Argus
  
• Owosso American
  
• Owosso Argus-Press
  
• Owosso Argus-Press
  
• Owosso Daily Argus
  
• Owosso Press & Owosso Weekly Press
  

Pentwater

• East Shore News
  
• Pentwater News
  

Pinckney

•  Pinckney Dispatch
  

Saugatuck

• Commercial Record
  

South Haven

• Morning Sentinel  
  
• South Haven Sentinel
  

South Lyon

• South Lyon Herald
  

Tecumseh

• Tecumseh News 
  

Three Oaks

• Galien River Gazette 1902-1988  
  
• Acorn 1900-1929  

Three Rivers

• News Reporter
  
• Three Rivers Daily Reporter 
  
• Three Rivers Herald 
  
• Three Rivers Reporter
  
• Three Rivers Tribune 
  

Subscription or Pay Sites:


Ancestry.com:

There are currently 31 publications available at this site. See all the titles at Ancestry - Michigan Newspapers

Genealogy Bank:

There are currently 32 publications available at this site. See all the titles at Genealogy Bank - Michigan Newspapers

Newspaper Archive:

There are currently 87 publications available at this site. See all the titles at Newspaper Archive - Michigan

Newspapers.com:

There are currently 72 publications available at this site. See all the titles at Newspapers.com - Michigan 


Links to Follow:

There are several ways to keep up with new collections as they are digitized and made available online. Two of my favorites:

• Historical Newspapers Online from the University of Pennsylvania
• Historical U.S. Newspapers Online from Bowling Green State University

And Finally:

You also need to check out the Library of Michigan site, which can tell you what newspapers have been digitized and are available via microfilm.

Please note - even more may be available via a local library where a library card is required. And of course there is always microfilm for those that have not been made available online as yet.

Good luck and happy hunting!

For more links for different states, provinces, and countries - please see the Newspapers! page on this website.

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