CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Digital Newspaper Collection now allows users to search and read more than 3 million newspaper pages from 400 historic newspaper titles dating back to 1849.

A new search feature allows users to limit search results to unrestricted content. Previously, many of the newspapers were only available through request from the University of Wyoming Libraries. Now, users can confine their searches to newspapers with unrestricted access from anywhere at any time.

“The Wyoming Digital Newspaper Collection is a robust, online collection, perfect for exploring the state’s history,” said Travis Pollok, Wyoming State Library Legislative Librarian. “This new search feature will make it much more friendly with customizable searching and browsing.”

Historians, genealogists, students and scholars can find a wealth of reliable information in the collection, all first-hand accounts of local news from the past. The earliest newspapers date back to the mid-1800s, but many survived for only a brief time and disappeared like the boom-and-bust ghost towns of Wyoming and the West.

The Wyoming Digital Newspaper Collection is a partnership between the Wyoming State Library and the University of Wyoming Libraries. The database includes 400 historic newspaper titles, 223,439 issues and 3,178,268 pages—and it’s still growing. The digital collection can be found online here.

Questions about the digital newspaper project may be directed to Bryan Ricupero, Metadata Librarian at the University of Wyoming Libraries at bricuper@uwyo.edu or (307) 766-5615.

Julie Ellison is a writer and photographer based in Victor, Idaho. She seeks out stories that reflect the unique social issues of this region and elevate the fascinating individuals who live here. Her favorite things are coffee, reading, climbing, bikes, and dogs.