Thanks to funding from the State Library of North Carolina’s LSTA Grant and our partner, Halifax County Library System, new issues of The Roanoke News from 1923 to 1944 are now available on our website. This expands our current holding of the paper from 1878 to 1944. The paper, published weekly, primarily features articles on local, North Carolina news such as the completion of the Wright Memorial Bridge.

Wright Bridge Open to Public, April 1931.

Prior to 1931, individuals looking to visit North Carolina’s Outer Banks, or those wishing to visit Dare’s county seat in Manteo, would have had a rather long trip ahead of them. In 1921, the General Assembly passed a $50 million bond issue that was to be used for improving and paving roads that would connect county seats. In addition to these new roads, several concrete bridges were constructed that shortened the distance between places significantly. One of the bridges constructed under the bond was the Wright Memorial Bridge. In April of 1931, the Wright Memorial Bridge was finally opened to the public after 10 years of construction. The bridge spans the entire three mile width across Currituck Sound, connecting Point Harbor to the Outer Banks. The bridge still enjoys heavy usage almost 100 years later.

To learn more about the Halifax County Library System, please visit their website.

To view more newspapers from across North Carolina, please click here.

This week we have another 61 titles up on DigitalNC, including our first additions from Charleston, Culler, Red Springs, Rutherfordton, and Sanford! Included in this batch, on the front page of the February 28, 1872 issue of Raleigh’s Weekly Sentinel, is an article detailing the final heist of Robeson County folk hero Henry Berry Lowry.

Portrait thought to be of Henry Berry Lowry. Via the State Archives of North Carolina

Henry Berry Lowry, a Lumbee Native American, was the head of the mostly Native outlaw group known as the Lowry Gang. In addition to typical outlaw activities, the Lowry Gang also helped other Native Americans avoid Confederate work conscription and fought alongside Union soldiers who had escaped Confederate prison camps. While Lowry did often resort to murder to settle personal feuds, he was also considered a sort of Robeson “Robin Hood.” When they committed robberies, they would often share the spoils with the community and would return items such as horses as soon as they were no longer needed. They were known to be “respectful” robbers and would let you off the hook if you could show you didn’t have much.

The Weekly Sentinel, February 28, 1872

In 1869, governor William Holden put a $12,000 bounty on Lowry’s head, which resulted in bloody conflict over the next few years. After successfully evading capture, Lowry planned his final heist in February of 1872. The gang stole a safe from a local carriage manufacturer and were bold enough to take another from the sheriff’s office, walking away with $22,000 (about $520,000 today) and then he disappeared. The bounty was never collected and he was never heard from again. Some locals claim they saw him at a friend’s funeral years later, but we will likely never know what happened to Henry Berry Lowry.

Over the next year, we’ll be adding millions of newspaper images to DigitalNC. These images were originally digitized a number of years ago in a partnership with Newspapers.com. That project focused on scanning microfilmed papers published before 1923 held by the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Special Collections Library. While you can currently search all of those pre-1923 issues on Newspapers.com, over the next year we will also make them available in our newspaper database as well. This will allow you to search that content alongside the 2 million pages already on our site – all completely open access and free to use.

This week’s additions include:

Asheboro

• Southern Citizen, & Man of Business (Asheboro, N.C.) – 1836-1837
• Southern Citizen (Asheboro, N.C.) – 1837-1844

Charleston

• Swain County Herald (Charleston, N.C.) – 1889-1890

Charlotte

• The People’s Paper (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1896-1903

Culler

• Pinnacle Era (Culler, N.C.) – 1893
• North Carolina Voice (Culler, N.C.) – 1894

Elizabeth City

• The Old North State, and Nag’s Head Advocate (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1841
• The Old North State (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1849-1854

Goldsboro

• Republican and Patriot (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1853
• North Carolina Republican (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1854

Greensboro

• The Daily Evening Patriot (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1888
• Weekly Message (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1851-1867
• The Message (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1867-1870
• The Olive Branch (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1870-1871
• The Greensboro Times (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1868

Halifax

• Roanoke Advocate (Halifax, N.C.) – 1830-1833
• Roanoke Advocate and State Rights Banner (Halifax, N.C.) – 1840-1842
• Roanoke Republican (Halifax, N.C.) – 1843-1855

Hertford

• Perquiman’s Record (Hertford, N.C.) – 1890-1894

North Wilkesboro

• The Hustler (North Wilkesboro, N.C.) – 1899-1905

Oxford

• The Oxford Free Lance (Oxford, N.C.) – 1878
• Oxford Examiner (Oxford, N.C.) – 1830-1838
• Oxford Mercury, and Citizen of Granville (Oxford, N.C.) – 1841

Plymouth

• The Plymouth Banner (Plymouth, N.C.) – 1856
• The Old Flag (Plymouth, N.C.) – 1865
• The Plymouth News (Plymouth, N.C.) – 1849-1850

Raleigh

• The Weekly Sentinel (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1872-1876

Red Springs

• Red Springs Comet (Red Springs, N.C.) – 1892
• The Comet (Red Springs, N.C.) – 1893

Reidsville

• The Reidsville Times (Reidsville, N.C.) – 1876-1889

Rockingham

• Spirit of the South (Rockingham, N.C.) – 1873-1892
• The Pee Dee Courier (Rockingham, N.C.) – 1876
• The Pee Dee Bee (Rockingham, N.C.) – 1879
• The Bee (Rockingham, N.C.) – 1880-1881

Rutherfordton

• The New Regime (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1876
• Carolina Gazette (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1836-1837
• Western Star of Liberty (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1840
• Rutherfordton Intelligencer (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1841-1843
• North Carolina Spectator and Western Advertiser (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1830-1835

Salisbury

• Republican Banner (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1854-1857
• The Salisbury Banner (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1858-1867
• Yadkin Valley Herald (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1917-1919
• The Daily Union Banner (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1865-1866

Sanford

• The Sanford Express (Sanford, N.C.) – 1902-1917

Shelby

• Cleaveland Banner (Shelby, N.C.) – 1872-1874
• Shelby Banner (Shelby, N.C.) – 1875-1876
• New Era (Shelby, N.C.) – 1887-1889
• Shelby Aurora (Shelby, N.C.) – 1875-1906

Tarboro

• The Carolina Banner (Tarboro, N.C.) – 1889-1891
• The Farmers’ Advocate (Tarboro, N.C.) – 1891-1892
• The Tarborough Southerner (Tarboro, N.C.) – 1883-1885

Taylorsville

• The Alexander County Journal (Taylorsville, N.C.) – 1889-1890

Wadesboro

• The Pee Dee Herald (Wadesboro, N.C.) – 1871-1880

Warrenton

• The Record (Warrenton, N.C.) – 1913-1916
• The Warren Record (Warrenton, N.C.) – 1917-1922

Washington

• Washington Progress (Washington, N.C.) – 1914-1922
• The Whig (Washington, N.C.) – 1835-1838
• Washington Whig (Washington, N.C.) – 1839
• Washington Whig and Republican Gazette (Washington, N.C.) – 1839-1842
• North State Whig (Washington, N.C.) – 1842-1854

Winston-Salem

• The Business Guide (Winston-Salem, N.C.) – 1906-1907

If you want to see all of the newspapers we have available on DigitalNC, you can find them here. Thanks to UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries for permission to and support for adding all of this content as well as the content to come. We also thank the North Caroliniana Society for providing funding to support staff working on this project.

This week we have another 60 titles from all over the state up on DigitalNC, including a little piece of North Carolina railroad history!

On the second page of the January 15^th, 1833 issue of the Fayetteville Observer, you’ll find a list of all the legislation enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly during the 1832-1833 session. One of these acts is the incorporation of the company that built North Carolina’s first functional railroad: The Experimental Rail Road Company of Raleigh.

Fayetteville Observer, January 15, 1833

The one and one-quarter mile rail line extended from the Capitol Building, which had burned in 1831, to a quarry just east of Raleigh. When the horse-drawn rail carts weren’t transporting the stone used to rebuild the Capitol, people could ride the line in “pleasure cars” for a 25 cent fare. The line cost $2,700 to construct, which would be roughly $91,000 in 2022.

Over the next year, we’ll be adding millions of newspaper images to DigitalNC. These images were originally digitized a number of years ago in a partnership with Newspapers.com. That project focused on scanning microfilmed papers published before 1923 held by the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Special Collections Library. While you can currently search all of those pre-1923 issues on Newspapers.com, over the next year we will also make them available in our newspaper database as well. This will allow you to search that content alongside the 2 million pages already on our site – all completely open access and free to use.

This week’s additions include:

• The North Carolina Prohibitionist (Bush Hill, N.C.) – 1886-1888
• The Progress (Enfield, N.C.) – 1908-1922
• The North-Carolina Journal (Halifax, N.C.) – 1792-1810
• The News Reporter (Littleton, N.C.) – 1897-1923
• The Franklin Courier (Louisburg, N.C.) – 1872-1874
• The Madison Enterprise (Madison, N.C.) – 1873-1874
• The Monroe Journal (Monroe, N.C.) – 1923
• The Iredell Gazette (Mooresville, N.C.) – 1880
• The Morganton Herald (Morganton, N.C.) – 1891-1901
• Surry Visitor (Mount Airy, N.C.) – 1874-1876
• Cherokee Herald (Murphy, N.C.) – 1874-1876
• Person County Courier (Roxboro, N.C.) – 1890-1892
• North Carolina Argus (Wadesboro, N.C.) – 1848-1876
• Mecklenburg Times (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1889-1897
• The North Carolina Whig (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1863
• King’s Dollar Daily (Greenville, N.C.) – 1904
• King’s Weekly (Greenville, N.C.) – 1894-1909
• McDowell Democrat (Marion, N.C.) – 1905-1909
• Marion Progress (Marion, N.C.) – 1909-1922
• The Stanly Banner (Albemarle, N.C.) – 1876
• The Stanly Observer (Albemarle, N.C.) – 1884
• The Stanly News (Albemarle, N.C.) – 1892-1893
• The Caldwell Messenger (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1875-1876
• The Semi-Weekly News (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1900
• The Weekly News (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1900-1902
• The Magnolia Monitor (Magnolia, N.C.) – 1873-1876
• The Duplin Record (Magnolia, N.C.) – 1874-1875
• The Weekly Record (Magnolia, N.C.) – 1876-1877
• The Central (Lexington, N.C.) – 1876
• Lexington and Yadkin Flag (Lexington, N.C.) – 1855-1856
• The Lexington Herald (Lexington, N.C.) – 1915-1917
• The North State (Lexington, N.C.) – 1904-1908
• Murfreesboro Enquirer (Murfreesboro, N.C.) – 1876-1878
• The Albemarle Enquirer (Murfreesboro, N.C.) – 1878-1881
• The Hornets’ Nest (Murfreesboro, N.C.) – 1812-1813
• Carolina Chronicle (Murfreesboro, N.C.) – 1827
• Milton Intelligencer (Milton, N.C.) – 1819
• Milton Spectator (Milton, N.C.) – 1832-1839
• The Milton Chronicle (Milton, N.C.) – 1841-1888
• Milton Gazette & Roanoke Advertiser (Milton, N.C.) – 1824-1831
• The Milton Spectator (Milton, N.C.) – 1854
• The Lincoln Democrat (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1895-1896
• The Lincoln Journal (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1898-1901
• The Lincoln Courier (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1891
• Lincoln Transcript (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1836
• The Western Whig Banner (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1840
• Lincoln Progress (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1873-1882
• Economist (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1903
• The Weekly Economist (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1903-1905
• Daily Economist (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1905-1907
• North Carolina Advocate (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1833
• The Intelligencer, and Nag’s Head Advocate (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1840-1841
• The Elizabeth-City Gazette, and Public Advertiser (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1808
• Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1833
• The Public Spirit (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1876
• The News (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1865
• The Fayetteville Daily News (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1865
• The Weekly Courier (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1860
• Fayetteville Examiner (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1880-1883
• Daily Telegraph (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1865

If you want to see all of the newspapers we have available on DigitalNC, you can find them here. Thanks to UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries for permission to and support for adding all of this content as well as the content to come. We also thank the North Caroliniana Society for providing funding to support staff working on this project.