Much of our newspaper digitization is done from microfilm reels, which typically only have one title on a reel.  However, sometimes a paper does not take up a whole reel and to maximize efficiency, when the reel was created, other small runs of papers are included.  Often those small runs are simply a few issues of very old papers where the only extant know copies number 2 or 3 issues.  This was the case with a reel we digitized this past year for the Bladen Journal.  In addition to the Journal, 13 other titles were on the same reel and all have now been added to DigitalNC!  

The full list includes:

Enfield Times 2 issues, 1873
Tar River Beacon 2 issues, 1876
Greenville Express 2 issues, 1880-1881
Cape Fear Lance  1 issue, 1899
The Beacon  2 issues, 1888
The Enfield Progress 1 issue, 1887
Old Constitution  2 issues, 1870
 Franklinton Weekly 3 issues, 1883, 1886, 1893
The Rural Visitor  7 issues, 1898-1899
 Graham Tribune 1 issue, 1900
The Greenville Index  1 issue, 1894
The Western Reporter  1 issue, 1881

The towns the papers represent cover the eastern and western portions of the state, with the oldest issue from 1873 and the most recent from 1900 – over a quarter century of coverage from across the state.

To see more newspapers, check out our North Carolina Newspapers section of the website.  

Over 2000 issues of The Commonwealth, a paper published in Scotland Neck, are now on DigitalNC.  The issues span 40 years, from 1882 to 1922, adding a lot of coverage in our newspaper collection from the coastal region of the state. The very first issue, published August 24, 1882, is included in this batch, stating it was an “uncompromising Democratic journal.” The paper had a definite editorial stance supporting the Democrats both statewide and nationally and attacking the Republican party, which was the party of Black and white in North Carolina, while the Democrats were against any efforts at integration.  This editorial stance continues into the 20th century, with an interesting gap in publication the week of the coup in Wilmington in 1898, but the following week had an editorial in support of the actions taken by the white supremists in the city.  By the 1920s, more of a focus on news and less of an editorial bent seems evident, with their tagline being “All the News in a Nutshell.”

To view more newspapers on DigitalNC, visit our North Carolina Newspapers collection.  

Digitization of this newspaper is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.