This week we have another 30 newspaper titles up on DigitalNC! In the September 3, 1891 issue of Boone’s Watauga Democrat we have an article describing the terrible train wreck of Bostian’s Bridge in Statesville. This fatal accident sparked a legendary North Carolina ghost story, but perhaps even scarier are the boogeymen railroad companies would often create to avoid accountability: train wreckers.

By 1891 the railroad system in America had exploded, allowing for easier cross-country travel and bringing with it fresh new paranoia about disasters and scary strangers coming to your town. Blaming a wreck on some shady character was a lot easier than paying a fortune on settlements due to negligence. Almost immediately after the August 27, 1891 accident, the Richmond & Danville Railroad Company put out ads offering a $10,000 reward for the apprehension of the perpetrator, leading to many being accused and arrested (conveniently with the help of a railroad detective).

The editor at Statesville’s Landmark provides us with an incredibly detailed account of the accident and the recovery effort, complete with interviews from survivors and witnesses where they describe rotten cross-ties and rail workers throwing this evidence into the creek below the bridge. Many of those interviewed make a point to mention that there were no signs of robbery after the crash, which doesn’t exactly support the idea of this being some dastardly deed by a bandit.

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:

Asheville

• Western North Carolina Baptist (Asheville, N.C.) – 1886
• The Epworth News (Asheville, N.C.) – 1891

Boone

• Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.) – 1888-1914

Burlington

• The Burlington Falcon (Burlington, N.C.) – 1925

Chapel Hill

• The Chapel Hill News (Chapel Hill, N.C.) – 1893-1894
• The News (Chapel Hill, N.C.) – 1898-1917

Durham

• The Trinity League Record (Durham, N.C.) – 1894-1895
• The Christian Educator (Durham, N.C.) – 1896

Fayetteville

• Fayetteville Observer [1816-1865] (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1834-1865
• The Fayetteville Advertiser and Gazette (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1871
• Fayetteville Observer [1880-1919] (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1883-1885
• Fayetteville Observer [1880-1919] (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1887-1900
• The Home-Florist (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1890

Fairfield

• Hyde County Messenger (Fairfield, N.C.) – 1934-1941

Gastonia

• The Gastonia Gazette (Gastonia, N.C.) – 1886-1892

Holly Springs

• The Cape Fear Enterprise (Holly Springs, N.C.) – 1899-1901

Jackson

• The Northampton Reporter–Supplement (Jackson, N.C.) – 1879

Kinston

• Kinston Journal (Kinston, N.C.) – 1878-1882

Lexington

• The Normal Echo (Lexington, N.C.) – 1886

Lincolnton

• The Literary South (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1937

Pittsboro

• The Semi-Monthly Record of the Pittsboro’ Scientific Academy (Pittsboro, N.C.) – 1866

Raleigh

• Raleigh Register, and North-Carolina Gazette (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1836
• The Daily Standard (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1865
• The Gazette (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1871
• Monthly Bulletin, North Carolina Department of Agriculture (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1883-1884
• The Belles-Lettres (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1885

Salisbury

• The Farmer’s Journal (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1846-1847

Tarboro

• The Edgecombe Farm-Journal (Tarboro, N.C.) – 1860

Winston

• The Independent Supplement (Winston, N.C.) – 1885
• The Broad Street Worker (Winston, N.C.) – 1894

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 40 newspaper titles and thousands of issues up on DigitalNC, including over 1,000 issues from The Messenger and Intelligencer from Wadesboro, the birthplace of Piedmont blues musician Blind Boy Fuller (read a brief biography about Fuller here). In this post we have some interesting new information regarding the blues legend’s birth!

Via John Edwards Memorial Foundation Records (PF-20001), Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Library

Blind Boy Fuller was born Fulton Allen to parents Calvin Allen and Mary Jane Walker in Wadesboro, North Carolina, but the actual date of his birth is very much up for debate. The date of July 10 seems to be generally agreed upon, but the actual year tends to differ. While there are some sources that put it at 1904, folklorist Bruce Bastin puts Allen’s date of birth at July 10, 1907 based on statements from the North Carolina State Commission for the Blind, the Social Security Board, and the Durham County Welfare records. However, his 1941 death certificate states that he was 32 years old when he died, putting the year of his birth at 1908.

Rockingham Post-Dispatch, July 28, 1921

What we found makes things a little interesting. After the family relocated to Rockingham sometime in the early 1900s, his father posted a notice in the July 28, 1921 issue of the Rockingham Post-Dispatch that would suggest that none of these are accurate. The notice supports the idea of a July birthday but implies that, being 16 years old, he would have actually been born in 1905.

Bruce Bastin is the author of Red River Blues: The Blues Tradition in the Southeast and Early Masters of American Blues Guitar: Blind Boy Fuller with Stefan Grossman. The Bruce Bastin and Stefan Grossman Collections are housed here at UNC as part of the Southern Folklife Collection.

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:

Charlotte

• Daily Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1892-1893
• The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1921
• Beasley’s Farm and Home Weekly (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1945

Edenton

• Biblical Recorder and Journal of Passing Events (Edenton, N.C.) – 1834

Greensboro

• The Greensborough Patriot (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1865
• Greensboro Evening Telegram (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1898

High Point

• High Point Reporter (High Point, N.C.) – 1860

Lexington

• The Davidson Dispatch (Lexington, N.C.) – 1882

Milton

• The Milton Chronicle (Milton, N.C.) – 1882

New Bern

• The Biblical Recorder (New Bern, N.C.) – 1835-1837

Raleigh

• The Biblical Recorder and Southern Watchman (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1838-1841
• The Biblical Recorder (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1843-1903
• North Carolina Standard (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1868
• The Daily North Carolina Standard (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1868
• The Raleigh Student (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1924-1929
• North Carolina Christian Advocate (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1929-1930

Rocky Mount

• The Phoenix (Rocky Mount, N.C.) – 1889-1895
• The Rocky Mount Motor (Rocky Mount, N.C.) – 1900
• The Evening Telegram (Rocky Mount, N.C.) – 1921-1922
• Rocky Mount Weekly News (Rocky Mount, N.C.) – 1921-1922

Salem

• The People’s Press (Salem, N.C.) – 1860-1861

Salisbury

• The Rowan Whig and Western Advocate (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1855
• Republican Banner (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1856
• Daily Carolina Watchman (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1864-1865
• The Salisbury Press (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1888

Wadesboro

• The Messenger and Intelligencer (Wadesboro, N.C.) – 1888-1919
• The Messenger and Intelligencer and Ansonian (Wadesboro, N.C.) – 1919-1923

Wilmington

• The Daily Journal (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1852-1877
• Wilmington Journal (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1877

Winston

• Western Sentinel (Winston, N.C.) – 1857-1883
• The Twin-City Daily (Winston, N.C.) – 1885-1889
• The Winston Leader (Winston, N.C.) – 1885
• The Friend of Home (Winston, N.C.) – 1887
• The Winston Weekly Journal (Winston, N.C.) – 1897-1901
• The Twin-City Sentinel (Winston, N.C.) – 1892-1916
• The Union Republican (Winston, N.C.) – 1912-1922

Winston-Salem

• The Journal (Winston-Salem, N.C.) – 1898-1900
• The Daily Journal (Winston-Salem, N.C.) – 1900
• Winston-Salem Journal (Winston-Salem, N.C.) – 1902-1922
• Twin City Sentinel (Winston-Salem, N.C.) – 1916-1923

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 another 30 titles up on DigitalNC this week! This batch brings us our first newspapers from Dallas, Fairmont, Lake Landing, Maiden, and Newland, North Carolina!

In the January 8^th, 1891 issue of the Monroe Enquirer-Register we have an ad for a fledging discount store in Monroe, North Carolina called The New York Racket, which will become the shopping mall staple we know as Belk. Founded by William Henry Belk in 1888, the store would change its name to Belk Brothers in 1898 and go on to become one of the largest department store chains in the country.

January 8th, 1891

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:

Belhaven

• The Belhaven Citizen (Belhaven, N.C.) – 1914
• The Belhaven Times (Belhaven, N.C.) – 1929
• The Belhaven Times and the Hyde County Record (Belhaven, N.C.) – 1933-1934

Black Mountain

• The Black Mountain News (Black Mountain, N.C.) – 1980

Creedmoor

• Creedmoor News (Creedmoor, N.C.) – 1913

Dallas

• The Dallas Eagle (Dallas, N.C.) – 1891
• The Truth (Dallas, N.C.) – 1903

Fairmont

• The Fairmont Times (Fairmont, N.C.) – 1933
• The Times-Messenger (Fairmont, N.C.) – 1941
• The Fairmont Messenger (Fairmont, N.C.) – 1941

Forest City

• The Carolina News (Forest City, N.C.) – 1952

Gastonia

• The Community Survey (Gastonia, N.C.) – 1921

Iredell County

• The County News (Iredell County, N.C.) – 1953

Lake Landing

• The Mattamuskeet Clarion (Lake Landing, N.C.) – 1925

Lincolnton

• The Lincoln County Times (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1908

Maiden

• The Maiden Times (Maiden, N.C.) – 1969-1974

Manteo

• The Coastland Times With Which is Combined The Pilot and Herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter (Manteo, N.C.) – 1963-1974

Monroe

• Monroe Enquirer-Register (Monroe, N.C.) – 1891

Mooresville

• The Mooresville Record (Mooresville, N.C.) – 1897
• The Record-Times (Mooresville, N.C.) – 1899
• The Rounder and the News Leader (Mooresville, N.C.) – 1937
• The News Leader (Mooresville, N.C.) – 1939

Newland

• The Avery Post (Newland, N.C.) – 1955

Rocky Mount

• The Evening Telegram (Rocky Mount, N.C.) – 1916-1954

Shelby

• The Highlander and Shelby News (Shelby, N.C.) – 1921

Statesville

• The New Deal (Statesville, N.C.) – 1933-1934
• Statesville Daily Record (Statesville, N.C.) – 1947-1953
• The Iredell Morning News (Statesville, N.C.) – 1956-1959

Swan Quarter

• Hyde County Record (Swan Quarter, N.C.) – 1928-1930

Taylorsville

• The Taylorsville News (Taylorsville, N.C.) – 1895

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 70 titles up on DigitalNC including over 1,000 issues of The Robesonian, 1,000 issues of The Western Sentinel, 3,000 issues of The Reidsville Review, 4,000 issues of The News and Observer, and almost 4,000 issues of the Salisbury Evening Post!

In the March 8th, 1914 issue of The News and Observers we have an article detailing a practice game played by the Baltimore Orioles while in Fayetteville. This happens to be the game where a 19 year old George Herman “Babe” Ruth hit his first home run as a professional baseball player. Ruth was also given his iconic nickname “Babe” while in Fayetteville on this trip.

The News and Observer, March 8th, 1914

Image via The Fayetteville Observer

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

• Asheboro Courier (Asheboro, N.C.) – 1902

Asheville

• Asheville Daily Citizen (Asheville, N.C.) – 1891-1900
• The Citizen (Asheville, N.C.) – 1900
• Asheville Citizen (Asheville, N.C.) – 1906-1907

Belhaven

• Belhaven Journal (Belhaven, N.C.) – 1916-1923
• Beaufort-Hyde News (Belhaven, N.C.) – 1966-1980

Brevard

• Brevard News (Brevard, N.C.) – 1917

Charlotte

• Daily Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1893-1897

Cherryville

• The Eagle (Cherryville, N.C.) – 1915-1919

Clayton

• The Clayton News (Clayton, N.C.) – 1914-1966

Concord

• The Bright Mason (Concord, N.C.) – 1873-1874

Cooleemee

• The Cooleemee Journal (Cooleemee, N.C.) – 1956-1962

Creedmoor

• Creedmoor Times-News (Creedmoor, N.C.) – 1913-1914

Durham

• The Morning Herald (Durham, N.C.) – 1913-1914

East Bend

• The Yadkin Ripple (East Bend, N.C.) – 1902

Elizabeth City

• The Advance (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1916
• The Daily Advance (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1916-1917

Forest City

• The Free Press (Forest City, N.C.) – 1913

Gastonia

• The Gastonia Gazette (Gastonia, N.C.) – 1908

Goldsboro

• Goldsboro Daily Argus (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1905-1920

Greenville

• King’s Weekly (Greenville, N.C.) – 1903-1905

Kenly

• The Kenly Observer (Kenly, N.C.) – 1927

Leaksville

• Leaksville Herald (Leaksville, N.C.) – 1861

Lenoir

• The Semi-Weekly News (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1900
• The Weekly News (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1902-1905
• The Lenoir Weekly News (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1905-1915
• The Lenoir News (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1906, 1914-16

Lincolnton

• Lincoln Progress (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1874
• The Lincoln Journal (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1903-1906

Lumberton

• The Robesonian (Lumberton, N.C.) – 1903-1923

Mocksville

• The Davie Times (Mocksville, N.C.) – 1902

Mooresville

• The Mooresville Enterprise (Mooresville, N.C.) – 1901-1902

Moravian Falls

• The Yellow-Jacket (Moravian Falls, N.C.) – 1928

New Bern

• The Sun (New Bern, N.C.) – 1911

Raleigh

• The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1906-1923

Red Springs

• The Farmer and Scottish Chief (Red Springs, N.C.) – 1890

Reidsville

• The Weekly Review (Reidsville, N.C.) – 1889-1899
• The Reidsville Review (Reidsville, N.C.) – 1899-1923

Rocky Mount

• Rocky Mount Mail (Rocky Mount, N.C.) – 1875-1876

Rutherfordton

• The Sun (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1911

Salisbury

• Salisbury Evening Post (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1905-1923
• Salisbury Post (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1908-1912
• Yadkin Valley Herald (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1918-1919

Selma

• The Johnstonian (Selma, N.C.) – 1925

Shelby

• The Cleveland Star (Shelby, N.C.) – 1902-1904
• The Highlander (Shelby, N.C.) – 1912-1920

Smithfield

• Johnston County Record (Smithfield, N.C.) – 1933-1934
• The Smithfield Herald (Smithfield, N.C.) – 1977

Spruce Pines & Burnsville

• The Tri-County News (Spruce Pine & Burnsville, N.C.) – 1940

Statesville

• Statesville Landmark (Statesville, N.C.) – 1874-1875
• The Landmark (Statesville, N.C.) – 1875-1903
• The Statesville American (Statesville, N.C.) – 1878
• The Statesville Mascot (Statesville, N.C.) – 1902

Taylorsville

• The Mountain Scout (Taylorsville, N.C.) – 1902-1906

Washington

• Washington Dispatch (Washington, N.C.) – 1861
• The North State Press (Washington, N.C.) – 1880
• The Washington Gazette (Washington, N.C.) – 1884-1887
• The Evening Messenger (Washington, N.C.) – 1896-1899
• The Gazette-Messenger (Washington, N.C.) – 1900-1904
• Washington Progress (Washington, N.C.) – 1930-1931

Waynesville

• Waynesville Courier (Waynesville, N.C.) – 1914-1915
• The Carolina Mountaineer and Waynesville Courier (Waynesville, N.C.) – 1921

Wilmington

• Wilmington Weekly Chronicle (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1840-1841
• Wilmington Chronicle (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1841-1845
• The Daily Journal (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1851-1852
• The Daily Wilmington Herald (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1866

Windsor

• Windsor Ledger (Windsor, N.C.) – 1913

Winston-Salem

• The Western Sentinel (Winston-Salem, N.C.) – 1903-1922
• Twin City Sentinel (Winston-Salem, N.C.) – 1922

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 45 newspapers added to DigitalNC including our first titles from Ridgeway, North Carolina!

In the June 15^th, 1920 issue of the Asheville Citizen we have an article celebrating UNC’s class of 1920 where recent graduate, and Asheville native, Thomas Wolfe reads the class poem and presents the class gift at an alumni event. It would be almost a decade until his iconic debut novel, Look Homeward, Angel, is published.

Asheville Citizen, June 15, 1920

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:

Asheville

• Asheville Citizen (Asheville, N.C.) – 1900-1923

Concord

• Concord Weekly Gazette (Concord, N.C.) – 1855-1857
• The Carolina Flag (Concord, N.C.) – 1861-1862
• The Concord Sun (Concord, N.C.) – 1878-1880
• The People’s Paper (Concord, N.C.) – 1879
• The Temperance Herald (Concord, N.C.) – 1881
• The Enterprise (Concord, N.C.) – 1883
• The Prohibition Banner (Concord, N.C.) – 1886
• The Concord Times (Concord, N.C.) – 1904-1905

Durham

• The Tobacco Plant (Durham, N.C.) – 1875

Fayetteville

• North-Carolina Intelligencer, and Fayetteville Advertiser (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1806-1808
• The Fayetteville Index (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1915-1917

Greensboro

• The Greensboro Patriot (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1881-1883
• The Daily Patriot (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1883

Highlands

• Blue Ridge Enterprise (Highlands, N.C.) – 1883-1885

Kinston

• American Advocate (Kinston, N.C.) – 1858-1859
• The Kinston Free Press (Kinston, N.C.) – 1920-1922

Laurinburg

• The Exchange (Laurinburg, N.C.) – 1911-1913
• The Laurinburg Exchange (Laurinburg, N.C.) – 1913-1916

Lenoir

• The Lenoir Topic (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1907-1909

Louisburg

• The Franklin Courier (Louisburg, N.C.) – 1875-1876

Mocksville

• The Davie Times (Mocksville, N.C.) – 1881-1887

Nashville

• The Argonaut (Nashville, N.C.) – 1890

New Bern

• The North Carolina Circular, and Newbern Weekly Advertiser (New Bern, N.C.) – 1803-1805
• The Morning Herald (New Bern, N.C.) – 1807-1808
• Newbern Herald (New Bern, N.C.) – 1809-1810
• The True Republican, and Newbern Weekly Advertiser (New Bern, N.C.) – 1810-1811
• The Carolinian (New Bern, N.C.) – 1815
• The Hornet’s Nest (New Bern, N.C.) – 1847
• Newbern Enquirer (New Bern, N.C.) – 1860
• The Daily Herald (New Bern, N.C.) – 1868
• The Campaign Anti-Radical (New Bern, N.C.) – 1870
• The Daily Liberal (New Bern, N.C.) – 1872

Pittsboro

• The Communicator (Pittsboro, N.C.) – 1849-1850

Polkton

• The Ansonian (Polkton, N.C.) – 1875

Raleigh

• The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1911

Randleman

• The Political Broadaxe (Randleman, N.C.) – 1890

Reidsville

• The Record (Reidsville, N.C.) – 1872-1873
• The Enterprise (Reidsville, N.C.) – 1875
• Reidsville News (Reidsville, N.C.) – 1875-1879

Ridgeway

• The Daily Graphic (Ridgeway, N.C.) – 1890
• The Ridgway Press (Ridgeway, N.C.) – 1869

Rockingham

• The Rocket (Rockingham, N.C.) – 1891-1896

Wadesboro

• North Carolina Argus (Wadesboro, N.C.) – 1854-1856

Winston-Salem

• Twin City Sentinel (Winston-Salem, N.C.) – 1897

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 tens of thousands of issues up on DigitalNC! In this batch we have over 1,000 issues of The High Point Enterprise and Lenoir News-Topic, more than 4,000 issues of The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer, 5,000 issues of the Goldsboro Daily Argus, over 5,500 issues of The Kinston Free Press, 7,000 issues of the Asheville Citizen, and more!

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:

Asheville

• The Daily Citizen (Asheville, N.C.) – 1889
• The Asheville Citizen (Asheville, N.C.) – 1889
• Asheville Daily Citizen (Asheville, N.C.) – 1891-1899
• Asheville Citizen (Asheville, N.C.) – 1900-1922

Charlotte

• The Charlotte Journal (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1835-1851
• The Charlotte News (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1892
• Charlotte Daily Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1911-1916
• The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1916-1922
• The Charlotte Chronicle (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1891
• Semi-Weekly Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1892
• Weekly Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1892

Concord

• The Sun (Concord, N.C.) – 1881-1882

Davidson

• The Davidsonian (Davidson, N.C.) – 1921-1926

Durham

• The Morning Herald (Durham, N.C.) – 1913-1919
• Durham Morning Herald (Durham, N.C.) – 1919-1921

Edenton

• The Edenton Gazette, and North-Carolina General Advertiser (Edenton, N.C.) – 1818

Elizabeth City

• Tar Heel (Elizabeth City N.C.) – 1911
• The Weekly Advance (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1911-1913
• The Advance (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1913
• The Daily Advance (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1919-1923

Elkin

• The Elkin Times (Elkin, N.C.) – 1895-1897

Fayetteville

• The American (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1814-1818
• Fayetteville Gazette (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1820-1822

Gastonia

• Gastonia Daily Gazette (Gastonia, N.C.) – 1922

Goldsboro

• Goldsboro Daily Argus (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1885-1922

Graham

• The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.) – 1896-1910

Greensboro

• Greensboro Daily News (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1921

Halifax

• Halifax Compiler (Halifax, N.C.) – 1818

Hickory

• Hickory Mercury (Hickory, N.C.) – 1892-1897
• The Hickory Times (Hickory, N.C.) – 1896
• The Times-Mercury (Hickory, N.C.) – 1898

High Point

• The High Point Enterprise (High Point, N.C.) – 1918-1922

Kinston

• The Daily Free Press (Kinston, N.C.) – 1898-1923
• The Kinston Free Press (Kinston, N.C.) – 1899-1923

Lenoir

• The Caldwell Messenger (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1875-1876
• The Lenoir Topic (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1876-1919
• The Lenoir News, and The Lenoir Topic (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1919
• Lenoir News-Topic (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1919-1924
• The Semi-Weekly News (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1898

Raleigh

• The News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1880-1890
• The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1906-1914

Shelby

• The Cleveland Star (Shelby, N.C.) – 1905-1923

Wilmington

• Wilmington Chronicle (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1845-1851
• The Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1922

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 35 newspaper titles up on DigitalNC including thousands of issues from the Greensboro Daily News and Charlotte Daily Observer!

In the January 7^th, 1898 issue of the Charlotte Daily Observer, we have a story about a little girl who had swallowed a thimble and was saved by a new invention: the x-ray machine. Dr. Henry Louis Smith, a physics professor at Davidson College, was an early pioneer in x-ray technology. Smith’s machine was used in some of the first clinical applications, such as this, and allowed doctors to safely find and remove the foreign object from the ailing girl’s body.

Charlotte Daily Observer, January 7, 1898

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:

Asheville

• The Western Enterprise (Asheville, N.C.) – 1908-1910

Burlington

• The Burlington News (Burlington, N.C.) – 1887-1917
• Burlington Daily News (Burlington, N.C.) – 1923
• Burlington Daily Times (Burlington, N.C.) – 1924-1926

Charlotte

• Charlotte Daily Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) -1897-1911
• The Daily Journal (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1883
• The Daily Journal-Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1883
• The Journal-Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1883

Durham

• Durham Tobacco Plant (Durham, N.C.) – 1886
• The Tobacco Plant (Durham, N.C.) – 1886-1888

Graham

• The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.) -1881-1907

Greensboro

• Greensboro Daily News (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1909-1922

Highlands

• The Highlander, Macon County and Western North Carolina Advertiser (Highlands, N.C.) – 1885-1887

Milton

• Milton Gazette & Roanoke Advertiser (Milton, N.C.) – 1828
• The Milton Chronicle (Milton, N.C.) – 1874

Salem

• The Weekly Gleaner (Salem, N.C.) – 1828-1829

Southport

• Southport Standard (Southport, N.C.) – 1897-1905
• Southport Herald (Southport, N.C.) – 1905-1909

Spencer

• The Spencer Crescent (Spencer, N.C.) – 1908-1914

Statesville

• Iredell Express (Statesville, N.C.) – 1858-1865
• The Intelligencer (Statesville, N.C.) – 1872-1874
• Statesville American and Tobacco Journal (Statesville, N.C.) – 1886

Tarboro

• Weekly Dispatch (Tarboro, N.C.) – 1897
• Political Synopsis (Tarboro, N.C.) – 1814-1815
• The Tarborough Guide (Tarborough, N.C.) – 1883
• The Tarboro’ Scaevola (Tarborough, N.C.) – 1837

Thomasville

• The Davidsonian (Thomasville, N.C.) – 1910-1915

Wadesboro

• People’s Literary Casket (Wadesboro, N.C.) – 1874
• The Plow Boy (Wadesboro, N.C.) – 1895-1897
• Wadesboro Courier (Wadesboro, N.C.) – 1896-1902

Waynesville

• The Haywood Enterprise (Waynesville, N.C.) – 1908

Wilson

• The Wilson Advance (Wilson, N.C.) – 1880-1899
• The Wilson Times (Wilson, N.C.) – 1923-1929

Windsor

• The Orient (Windsor, N.C.) – 1896-1897
• The Windsor Herald, and Bertie County Register (Windsor, N.C.) – 1833

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’ve added another 60 titles to DigitalNC. Included in this batch is the possible origin of a classic North Carolina ghost story!

The Maco Light story tells of a train conductor name Joe Baldwin who was decapitated in a tragic railway accident near the small community of Maco, North Carolina. Legend has it that the ghost of Mr. Baldwin could be seen walking the tracks at night, carrying a lantern and searching for his misplaced head, but once the railroad was removed in the 1970s he was never seen again.

The Southerner, January 12, 1856

As is the case with most folk tales, the story is passed down and embellished over the years and the origin becomes a little fuzzy. There is no record of a “Joe” Baldwin being involved in a wreck, but the January 12^th, 1856 issue of The Southerner has an article detailing a train accident that took place just outside of Wilmington a week earlier. The deceased in this incident is Charles Baldwin, who suffered a fatal head injury during the crash. Given the similarities in these stories, it seems our ghost might have actually stayed in one piece.

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:

Elizabeth City

• Daily Economist (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1905

Greensboro

• The Way of the World (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1862-1864
• The Weekly Tar Heel (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1905-1906
• The Twice-A-Week Tar Heel (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1907

Hendersonville

• The Visitor (Hendersonville, N.C.) – 1916-1918
• The Hendersonville Visitor (Hendersonville, N.C.) – 1918
• The News of Henderson County (Hendersonville, N.C.) – 1918-1919

Oxford

• The Tattler (Oxford, N.C.) – 1921-1922
• The Oxford Leader (Oxford, N.C.) – 1876
• The Torch-Light (Oxford, N.C.) – 1874-1880
• The Oxford Torchlight (Oxford, N.C.) – 1880-1886
• The Torchlight (Oxford, N.C.) – 1886-1888

Rutherfordton

• The Rutherfordton Tribune (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1901-1904
• The Western Vindicator (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1868-1899

Salem

• Weekly Chronicle and Farmers’ Register (Salem, N.C.) – 1836-1837
• The Little Typo (Salem, N.C.) – 1885-1889
• The News (Salem, N.C.) – 1883-1885

Salisbury

• The Salisbury Truth (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1887-1899

Southern Pines

• The Pine Knot (Southern Pines, N.C.) – 1886-1888

Southport

• The Southport Leader (Southport, N.C.) – 1895-1896

Tarboro

• Tarboro’ Mercury (Tarboro, N.C.) – 1859-1861
• The Tarborough Southerner (Tarboro, N.C.) – 1856-1858, 1869

Taylorsville

• The Taylorsville Index (Taylorsville, N.C.) – 1890-1891

Warrenton

• The Warrenton Courier (Warrenton, N.C.) – 1868
• The Living Present (Warrenton, N.C.) – 1869
• The Warrenton News (Warrenton, N.C.) – 1878-1882
• Home Journal (Warrenton, N.C.) – 1885
• Warrenton (North-Carolina) Reporter (Warrenton, N.C.) – 1824-1841

Washington

• The Republican (Washington, N.C.) – 1839
• Rough and Ready (Washington, N.C.) – 1848
• The Statesman, and Third Congressional District Advertiser (Washington, N.C.) – 1834-1835
• North Carolina Times (Washington, N.C.) – 1856-1860
• The Union Advance Picket (Washington, N.C.) – 1862
• The Eastern Intelligencer (Washington, N.C.) – 1869
• The Union (Washington, N.C.) – 1832
• What Next (Washington, N.C.) – 1876
• Washington Dispatch (Washington, N.C.) – 1857-1861
• Washington Herald (Washington, N.C.) – 1827
• Washington Index (Washington, N.C.) – 1867
• The Washington Gazette (Washington, N.C.) – 1884-1898

Williamston

• Democratic Banner (Williamston, N.C.) – 1856-1857
• Williamston Expositor (Williamston, N.C.) – 1866-1867
• Williamston Mercury (Williamston, N.C.) – 1859

Wilson

• The North Carolinian (Wilson, N.C.) – 1867-1868
• The Daily News (Wilson, N.C.) – 1900-1901
• The Wilson Ledger (Wilson, N.C.) – 1858-1861
• The Flag of the South (Wilson, N.C.) – 1861
• The Advertiser (Wilson, N.C.) – 1888
• The Advance (Wilson, N.C.) – 1874-1876
• The Wilson News (Wilson, N.C.) – 1899
• The Daily Topic (Wilson, N.C.) – 1873
• Southern Sentinel (Wilson, N.C.) – 1856
• The Little Jewel (Wilson, N.C.) – 1875

Winston

• The Piedmont Advertiser (Winston, N.C.) – 1890
• The Winston Leader (Winston, N.C.) – 1879-1885
• The Daily Pilot (Winston, N.C.) – 1883-1884

Winston-Salem

• The Twin-City Daily Sentinel (Winston-Salem, N.C.) – 1892-1914
• Elite (Winston-Salem, N.C.) – 1900
• The North Carolina Enterprise (Winston-Salem, N.C.) – 1885-1915
• The Enterprise (Winston-Salem, N.C.) – 1915

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 up on DigitalNC! While these papers cover all of North Carolina, almost one third are from Statesville alone!

In the October 3^rd, 1902 issue of Elizabeth City’s Tar Heel, there is an interview with Reginald Aubrey Fessenden’s assistant, Professor Saint Marie. Fessenden was a pioneer in early radio, or “wireless telegraphy,” and was conducting experiments at Manteo on Roanoke Island. In the interview, Prof. Saint Marie seems somewhat pessimistic about the process and its possibilities, which might be due to Fessenden abruptly ending their contract with the Weather Bureau the previous month after conflict arose over ownership of the patent.

Tar Heel, October 3, 1902

However, less than two months later The News and Observer reported that Fessenden’s invention had greatly improved and could now send transmissions to Washington, D.C. On Christmas Eve, 1906, he conducted the first radio broadcast by reading a bible verse and then playing ‘O Holy Night’ on his violin for the ships off the coast of Massachusetts. By 1909, according the the Charlotte Evening Observer, he had perfected the process for which he laid the foundation on the Carolina coast.

News and Observer, November 23, 1902

Evening Chronicle, April 14, 1909

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:

Elizabeth City

• Tar Heel (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1901-1910

Moravian Falls

• The Yellow-Jacket (Moravian Falls, N.C.) – 1895-1928

North Wilkesboro

• The North Wilkesboro Hustler (North Wilkesboro, N.C.) – 1906-1926
• North Wilkesboro News (North Wilkesboro, N.C.) – 1893-1896

Oxford

• The Leisure Hour (Oxford, N.C.) – 1858-1861
• The News of Oxford (Oxford, N.C.) – 1889
• Oxford Banner (Oxford, N.C.) – 1911
• The Granville Whig (Oxford, N.C.) – 1850
• Granville County Reformer (Oxford, N.C.) – 1894
• The Oxford Mercury (Oxford, N.C.) – 1843
• The Oxford Mercury, and District Telegraph (Oxford, N.C.) – 1843-1844
• The Oxford Leader (Oxford, N.C.) – 1875

Pittsboro

• The Communicator (Pittsboro, N.C.) – 1847
• Central Reflector (Pittsboro, N.C.) – 1833
• The Home (Pittsboro, N.C.) – 1887-1889

Rutherfordton

• West-Carolina Record (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1873-1874
• The Rutherford Star and West-Carolina Record (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1874-1875

Salem

• The Farmers’ Reporter (Salem, N.C.) – 1832-1834
• The Farmers’ Reporter and Rural Repository (Salem, N.C.) – 1835-1836
• Carolina Gazette (Salem, N.C.) – 1841

Salisbury

• The Evening World (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1895-1898
• Weekly World (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1895-1896
• Salisbury News (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1878
• The Salisbury Press (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1888
• The Tribune (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1872
• The Daily Gazette (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1865
• The Rowan Whig and Western Advocate (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1852-1855
• The Salisbury Herald (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1855-1857
• The Weekly Jubilee (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1852
• The Prohibitionist (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1881
• Salisbury Weekly Sun (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1897-1904
• Salisbury Globe (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1904-1905
• The Salisbury Daily Index (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1899-1900
• Salisbury Daily Truth-Index (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1900-1901
• Daily Herald (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1891-1896
• North Carolina Herald (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1885-1898
• The Industrial Record (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1899

Selma

• The Johnstonian (Selma, N.C.) – 1926

Shelby

• The Mountain Eagle (Shelby, N.C.) – 1861
• Shelby Review (Shelby, N.C.) – 1892

Siler City

• The Siler City Grit (Siler City, N.C.) 1905-1920

Smithfield

• The Weekly Herald (Smithfield, N.C.) – 1883
• The Smithfield Herald (Smithfield, N.C.) – 1885-1900

Statesville

• The Mascot (Statesville, N.C.) – 1897-1899
• The Statesville Mascot (Statesville, N.C.) – 1899-1901
• The Evening Mascot (Statesville, N.C.) – 1908-1909

Stonewall

• The Pamlico Enterprise (Stonewall, N.C.) – 1882-1884

Tarboro

• Tarboro’ Press (Tarboro, N.C.) – 1845-1847

Taylorsville

• The Mountain Scout (Taylorsville, N.C.) – 1913-1916

Wadesboro

• The Pee Dee Star (Wadesboro, N.C.) – 1854

Warrenton

• The Centennial (Warrenton, N.C.) – 1876
• The Semi-Weekly News (Warrenton, N.C.) – 1856-1857
• Warrenton News (Warrenton, N.C.) – 1850-1861

Washington

• The Weekly Express (Washington, N.C.) – 1873
• Washington Gazette, and Weekly Advertiser (Washington, N.C.) – 1807-1808
• Freeman’s Echo (Washington, N.C.) – 1829
• The New Era (Washington, N.C.) – 1862-1863
• The North State Press (Washington, N.C.) – 1878-1881

Wilson

• The Plaindealer (Wilson, N.C.) – 1869-1873

Windsor

• The Albemarle Press (Windsor, N.C.) – 1874-1876

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.

Another 40 newspaper titles up on DigitalNC this week! In this batch are many titles from all over the state (including nine from Rutherfordton) and a little local baseball history.

Featured in the May 5, 1902 issue of the Durham Daily Sun is the very first game of the Durham Tobacconists, the baseball team that would go on to become the Durham Bulls in 1913. While they lost their inaugural match to the Charlotte team 12-2, the author is optimistic and writes that “everything may soon be going their way.” They dropped out of the season two months later.

Durham Daily Sun, May 5, 1902

Durham Daily Sun, May 6, 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:

Charlotte

• The Charlotte Chronicle (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1886-1892
• The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1922

Durham

• Durham Daily Sun (Durham, N.C.) – 1889-1913
• The Durham Sun (Durham, N.C.) – 1911-1925

Elizabeth City

• The Advance (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1914-1916
• The Daily Advance (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1916-1919

Fayetteville

• Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1901-1919
• Fayetteville Daily Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1917-1920
• Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1920-1922

Gastonia

• The Gaston Gazette (Gastonia, N.C.) – 1880-1919
• The Daily Gazette (Gastonia, N.C.) – 1919
• Gastonia Daily Gazette (Gastonia, N.C.) – 1920-1921

High Point

• The High Point Enterprise (High Point, N.C.) – 1915-1919

Kinson

• The Evening Free Press (Kinston, N.C.) – 1900-1902

Oxford

• Oxford Public Ledger (Oxford, N.C.) – 1902

Plymouth

• Roanoke Cresset (Plymouth, N.C.) – 1859-1861

Raleigh

• Daily Sentinel (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1871

Roanoke Rapids

• Roanoke Rapids Herald (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) – 1914-1922

Rockingham

• The Southern Index (Rockingham, N.C.) – 1896
• The Richmond Rocket (Rockingham, N.C.) – 1884-1885
• Rockingham Rocket (Rockingham, N.C.) – 1885-1897
• Piedmont Dispatch (Rockingham, N.C.) – 1915-1917
• Rockingham Post-Dispatch (Rockingham, N.C.) – 1926-1959

Rutherford College

• The Pen and Plow (Rutherford College, N.C.) – 1881

Rutherfordton

• The Democrat (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1896
• The Western Vindicator (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1869
• The Rutherford Enquirer (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1860
• The Rutherford Banner (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1881-1887
• The Sun (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1903-1922
• The Rutherford Star (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1866-1872
• The Republican (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1844-1845
• Western North Carolina Republican (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1847
• Mountain Banner (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1848-1850

Southern Pines

• Sandhills Daily News (Southern Pines, N.C.) – 1936-1937
• Southern Pines Bulletin (Southern Pines, N.C.) – 1902

Southport

• The Southport Leader (Southport, N.C.) – 1890-1894

Troy

• The Montgomerian (Troy, N.C.) – 1908-1922

Wilmington

• The Commercial (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1846-1850
• The Tri-Weekly Commercial (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1850-1858

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.