United States Newspapers and Obituaries

This page is a work in progress. Most of these newspaper and obituary links are FREE, but some do require you to create a logon profile, and a few require a subscription. Remember that there is a lot more information in newspapers than just obituaries. Most major newspapers print births, marriages, and other records as well. Remember also, that most states require publication of various legal proceedings such as petitions for name changes, probate filings, bankruptcies, foreclosures . . . the list is endless, depending upon the law in the state in which the transaction occurs. Some newspapers also print "News of Record," which include arrests and civil filings. These notices are usually filed in the county in which the case is filed, and some states require the notice be printed in the newspaper with the largest circulation within the county. This is not always a newspaper that resides within the county!

It was not until the 20th century that newspapers organized and sectionalized their news as is done today. This may be difficult for some younger reader to believe, but at one time, there was no Classified Section and advertising appeared through the newspaper. The printer fit the advertising in whereever it wold fit. It did n't matter whether it was the first page or the last page. Then some publisher got the idea that they should be able to charge more for advertising that appeared on the first page one buried in the middle of the paper. Before, notices, advertising, obituaries and other events might appear on page one, or anywhere else in the paper. This is still true of some small town newspapers, but even they are now driven by financial factors and usually publish in categories. In general, the rule of thumb is, the older the newspaper, the more likely it is that notices may appear anywhere from the first to the last page.

If you have any links to newspapers or obituaries, please email them to us. Please include the state, name of newspaper, and url address.

United States Obituary Collection at Ancestry

United States Obituary Finder

The National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) View newspaper pages from 1900 to 1910 from California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Kentucky, New York, Utah, and Virginia.
NDNP will be implemented in several phases, beginning May 2005, by awarding grants to the six state projects above, to digitize newspapers published from 1900 to 1910. These projects are currently processing 100,000 pages, according to technical guidelines outlined by the Library of Congress. More are expected in the future.

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers from the Library of Congress. Search Historical Newspapers, 1690-present