This week we have the final 35 newspaper titles for this project up on DigitalNC! Over the past 11 months we have uploaded over 2.4 million pages of North Carolina newspapers – bringing our total number of newspaper pages on DigitalNC to 4,175,076 and our total number of titles on DigitalNC to 1,161 – all freely available to anyone! In this closing batch we have our first paper from Bower, North Carolina (which you may know as Clemmons today) and an article in the Union Republican about Stokes County’s would be Wright brother: Jacob A. Hill.

Jacob Hill, Winston-Salem Journal, March 9, 1902

Before Orville and Wilbur’s iconic first flight in 1903, the race to create a manned flying machine was fiercely competitive. One of the contenders was a man from Vade Mecum Springs named Jacob Hill. Hill was born 1862 in Davie County and had been fascinated by the flight of birds ever since he was a child. In 1901 he decided to take that curiosity a little further and solve “the problem of aerial navigation” by building his own dirigible.

Mr. Hill’s machine could have been the first piloted aircraft, but we’ll never know for sure if it could actually fly and be controlled. Momentum ran out when Hill couldn’t secure funding for his invention. According to Thomas Parramore’s First to Fly, witnesses claimed the craft could get off the ground, but couldn’t do much more than hover in place. Even though Hill’s airship became something of a local joke for a time, the legacy of his wild aspirations continues to live on in North Carolina history.

Over the past year, we’ve added 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, we have made 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:

Belhaven

• The Belhaven Pilot (Belhaven, N.C.) – 1948-1957

Bower

• The Olive Leaf (Bower, N.C.) – 1904

Charlotte

• The Weekly Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1886

Greensboro

• The Daily Workman (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1883
• The Greensboro Review (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1881
• The Guilford Herald (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1896

Kings Mountain

• The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.) – 1914-1919

Kinston

• The Daily Free Press (Kinston, N.C.) – 1920-1922

Lenoir

• The Lenoir Topic (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1890-1894

Monroe

• The Monroe Express (Monroe, N.C.) – 1881
• The Monroe Register (Monroe, N.C.) – 1890

Mt. Airy

• The Mt. Airy Watchman (Mt. Airy, N.C.) – 1880
• The Mt. Airy Times (Mt. Airy, N.C.) – 1876-1877

New Bern

• The Republic and Courier (New Bern, N.C.) – 1872-1874
• The True Republican, and Newbern Weekly Advertiser (New Bern, N.C.) – 1810-1811
• The Morning Herald (New Bern, N.C.) – 1807-1808
• Newbern Herald (New Bern, N.C.) – 1809-1810
• The North Carolina Circular, and Newbern Weekly Advertiser (New Bern, N.C.) – 1803-1805
• The Daily Herald (New Bern, N.C.) – 1868
• The Republican & Courier (New Bern, N.C.) – 1871
• Newbern Enquirer (New Bern, N.C.) – 1860
• The Daily Journal (New Bern, N.C.) – 1894
• New Berne Daily Journal (New Bern, N.C.) – 1894-1895

Salem

• The Farmers’ Reporter (Salem, N.C.) – 1832
• The Salem Observer (Salem, N.C.) – 1867

Salisbury

• North Carolina Herald (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1885-1888

Shelby

• The Highlander (Shelby, N.C.) – 1914-1919
• The Aurora-Highlander (Shelby, N.C.) – 1917

Statesville

• Statesville Christian Advocate (Statesville, N.C.) – 1887-1890

Swan Quarter

• The Hyde County Herald (Swan Quarter, N.C.) – 1941-1956

Taylorsville

• The Mountain Scout (Taylorsville, N.C.) – 1907-1917

Warrenton

• The Indicator (Warrenton, N.C.) – 1867-1868

Winston

• The Union Republican (Winston, N.C.) – 1874-1918
• The Twin-City Daily (Winston, N.C.) – 1889

Winston-Salem

• The Twin-City Daily Sentinel (Winston-Salem, N.C.) – 1916

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.

We have 21 new titles this week, including a couple from Petersburg, Virginia! In 1863, printer John William Syme relocated the Raleigh Register to Petersburg, Virginia. Production continued only until 1864, when the scarcity of supplies forced him to cease publication.

This week we also have one of the earliest advertisements for Pepsi buried on the last page of this issue of the New Bern Daily Journal. Created in a New Bern drug store in 1893, Pepsi was originally named “Brad’s Drink” after its creator and store owner, Caleb Bradham. In 1898 Bradham, changed the name to “Pepsi-Cola,” and in 1902 registered a trademark for the name. The first ad, misspelled as “Pesi-Cola,” is from August 8th, 1902 and the second, with the corrected name, is from August 31st, 1902.

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:

• Raleigh Daily Telegram (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1871
• The Daily Register (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1850-1851
• Daily Raleigh Register (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1868
• The Semi-Weekly Register (Petersburg, VA) – 1864
• Raleigh Register and North-Carolina State Gazette (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1800-1825
• Raleigh Register and North-Carolina Gazette (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1825-1841
• The Weekly Register (Petersburg, VA) – 1863
• The Progressive Farmer and Southern Farm Gazette (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1917
• The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1917
• The Evening Dispatch (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1916
• The Evening Visitor (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1894
• The Spirit of the Age (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1881-1894
• The Daily Journal (New Bern, N.C.) – 1884-1888
• New Bern Daily Journal (New Bern, N.C.) – 1900-1902
• Weekly Republican (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1874
• Asheville Daily Gazette (Asheville, N.C.) – 1900-1902
• Asheville Gazette-News (Asheville, N.C.) – 1913-1915
• The Asheville Times (Asheville, N.C.) – 1916
• The Asheville News (Asheville, N.C.) – 1880-1883
• Daily Carolina Watchman (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1864-1865
• Asheville Citizen (Asheville, N.C.) – 1881-1888

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.

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 are the following:

1. The Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1867-1901
2. Carolina Centinel (New Bern, N.C.) – 1818-1822
3. The Newbernian (New Bern, N.C.) – 1843-1848
4. Newbern Spectator (New Bern, N.C.) – 1834
5. New Berne Daily Times (New Bern, N.C.) – 1866-1874
6. The Wilmington Messenger (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1890-1907
7. The New Era and Commercial Advertiser (New Bern, N.C.) – 1854-1859
8. Daily Progress (New Bern, N.C.) – 1858-1861
9. The Carolina Farmer and Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1871-1874
10. The Daily Journal (New Bern, N.C.) – 1882-1914
11. The Morning New Bernian (New Bern, N.C.) – 1916-1917
12. The Encyclopedian Instructor and Farmer’s Gazette (Edenton, N.C.) – 1785-1801
13. The Herald of the Union (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1865
14. The Daily Herald (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1854-1861
15. The Wilmington Messenger (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1892-1896
16. The New Bern Sun Journal (New Bern, N.C.) – 1920-1922
17. New Berne Weekly Journal (New Bern, N.C.) – 1884-1913
18. Saturday Record (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1915-1937
19. North-Carolina Gazette (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1769-1800
20. The Daily Dispatch (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1865-1866
21. The New Bernian (New Bern, N.C.) – 1921-1924
22. North Carolina Christian Advocate (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1874-1909
23. The Daily Progress (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1862-1864
24. The Raleigh News (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1872-1880
25. The Friend of Temperance (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1868-1879
26. Newbern Sentinel (New Bern, N.C.) – 1834-1837
27. Weekly Conservative (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1864-1865
28. The Farmer and Mechanic (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1905
29. The Raleigh Microcosm (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1838-1843
30. The Morning Post (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1897-1899
31. The Harbinger (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1902-1904
32. The Daily Evening Visitor (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1892-1893
33. The Raleigh Evening Times (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1905-1908
34. The Evening Times (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1908-1910
35. The Raleigh Daily Times (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1910
36. The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1906-1922
37. The Wilmington Post (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1867-1877
38. The Evening Dispatch (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1914
39. The Evening Visitor (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1879-1881
40. The Friend and Templar (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1876-1880

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.