Rhode Island Online Historical Newspapers Summary

Rhode Island is one of the states that does not have a single central online state repository for searching historical newspapers, nor do they use the Library of Congress Chronicling America site as their main site for searching old newspapers. There are some free online newspapers on other sites and collections available on subscription sites. Below is a list of where the titles are stored and the link so that you can access them. 

There are about 750 newspapers that have been published in the Ocean State – certainly not all of them are searchable online. But there are several that are indeed available. So go for it – find your Rhode Island 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 January 2024; recently added links are in BOLD)

Rhode Island Historical Newspapers

Free Sites:

Statewide Collections:

Chronicling America – Rhode Island

Google News Archive

County and Library Collections:

Bristol County
The Bristol Phoenix 

  • Bristol Phoenix
  • Bristol Phenix
  • The Phoenix
  • Bristol Gazette and Family Companion
  • Bristol Gazette

Kent County
East Greenwich Free Library 

  • Rhode Island Pendulum
  • Warwick Beacon
  • East Greenwich Pendulum
  • The Weekly Pendulum
  • The Rhode Island Pendulum 

West Warwick Public Library

  • Pawtuxet Valley Gleaner

Newport County
Jamestown Philomenian Library 

  • Jamestown Press
  • The Jamestown Press

Providence County
Cranston Public Library

  • Cranston City Times
  • Cranston Herald
  • Cranston Herald News
  • Cranston Herald Today
  • Cranston Leader
  • Cranston News
  • Cranston Today
  • Herald News
  • Howard Times
  • Neighborhood News
  • The Bridge
  • The Cranston Critic
  • Cranston Mirror
  • Hammonds Floral Friend and Household Journal

Pawtucket Public Library

  • Pawtucket Times
  • Evening Times
  • Pawtucket Evening Times
  • The Pawtucket Times
  • Gazette and Chronicle
  • Pawtucket Chronicle and Manufacturers and Artizans Advocate
  • Pawtucket Chronicle and Rhode Island and Massachusetts Register
  • Pawtucket Gazette and Chronicle
  • The Providence Daily Post

Woonsocket Harris Public Library

  • Providence County Times
  • The Evening Call
  • The Evening Reporter
  • The Woonsocket Call And Evening Reporter

Washington County
Maury Loontjens Memorial Library 

  • Narragansett Times

North Kingstown Library

  • Standard Times
  • Timeout
  • Standard
  • Wickford Standard
  • The Standard-Times
  • Time Out
  • North Kingstown Standard
  • Wickford Village Fair News
  • The Westerly News and Rhode Island Telephone

Island Free Library

  • Block Island Fly 
  • Block Island Hooter 
  • Block Island Newsletter 
  • Way It Is
  • Block Island
  • Block Island Reporter 
  • Block Island Times 
  • Ebb Tide 
  • Manisses Journal 
  • Ocean View 
  • The Block Island Times
  • The Works
  • Block Island Summer Times 

South Kingstown Library

  • Narragansett Times
  • Narragansett Times and Washington County Advertiser

Westerly Public Library

  • The Westerly Daily Sun
  • The Westerly Sun

Student Collections:

Brown University – Providence

Bryant University – Smithfield

Community College of Rhode Island – Warwick

Johnson and Wales University – Providence

Naval War College – Newport

New England Institute of Technology – East Greenwich

Providence College – Providence

Rhode Island College – Providence

Rhode Island School of Design – Providence

Roger Williams University – Bristol

Salve Regina University – Newport

University of Rhode Island – Kingston

Miscellaneous Collections and Indexes:

Independent Voices – Alternative Newspapers

  • All hands abandon ship
  • Joglars

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Newspapers 1933-1942

Old Fulton Postcards

Newspaper Abstracts – Rhode Island

For Obituary Indexes, transcriptions, and other death/obituary information from historical newspapers, please check out the Obituaries page.

Other Free Sites:

Newport

Pawtuxet Village

Providence

Subscription or Pay Sites:

Ancestry.com:

There are currently 26 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Ancestry – Rhode Island Newspapers

Genealogy Bank:

There are currently 101 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Genealogy Bank – Rhode Island Newspapers

Newspaper Archive:

There are currently 16 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Newspaper Archive – Rhode Island

Newspapers.com:

There are currently 16 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Newspapers.com – Rhode Island. 

And Finally:

You also need to visit the Rhode Island Historical Society site, which can tell you what is occurring in the state with regard to newspaper projects. The Brown University and Providence College libraries are also good sites to visit.

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.

For more links for different states, provinces, and countries – please see the Newspaper Links page on this website.


For all Free Rhode Island Collection Links in 24 Genealogy Categories, go to the By Location Page, click on Rhode Island, and then click on the category of interest.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

4 replies on “Rhode Island Online Historical Newspapers Summary”

The newspaper that Google News lists as Providence — The Morning Herald is actually a mish-mosh: the years from 1873 are the Providence paper by that name, but the years from 1879 to 1900 are the Baltimore Morning Herald.

Wow, what a great list.
Wish I had found this list before I went to Providence to look up old obituaries. i had always just assumed most of RI was covered by the Journal. This list s very helpful in locating what newspaper would cover the person your looking for.
Keep up the great work.

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