More than 1,000 early issues of The Chatham Record, a weekly newspaper published in Pittsboro, are now available in the North Carolina Newspapers digital collection.  The papers cover the years 1879 to 1901, a crucial period in North Carolina history as the state emerged from war and reconstruction and engaged in fierce political battles that would resonate throughout the twentieth century.

Early issues of the Asheboro Courier are now available in the North Carolina Newspapers digital collection. More than 500 issues, ranging from 1884 to 1912, have been digitized.  The Courier was one of the first newspapers to be published in Asheboro, tracing its origins back to 1876.  Unfortunately, few early issues are available.

Over 500 issues of The Pinehurst Outlook, a weekly paper that began publication in 1897, are now available online in the North Carolina Newspapers collection.

Early issues of the Highland Messenger, the first newspaper to be published in Asheville, are now available in the North Carolina Newspapers project.  The Messenger began publication in 1840, when there were just a few thousand people living in Buncombe County.  The initial goals of the paper were quite lofty.  Here they are, as stated in the first issue:

Historic issues of the Goldsboro Headlight from 1887 to 1903 are now available in the North Carolina Newspapers collection.  Advertised as a “first class Democratic family newspaper,” the Headlight was published weekly and was typical of the newspapers of the time in that it included a little local news and politics, a regular column reporting on social activities in the town, and a lot of features and illustrations borrowed from other publications around the country.

The North Carolina Whig, a newspaper published in Charlotte in the 1850s and 1860s, is now available on DigitalNC as part of the North Carolina Newspapers collection.

The Whig began publication on January 26, 1852, declaring in its first issue support for the Presidential ticket of incumbent Millard Fillmore for President and North Carolinian William A. Graham as Vice President.  The editors confess their inexperience and ask for patience from readers and critics: “And, as this is our first adventure in an enterprise of this nature as helmsman, we ask that the storms of criticism and party spirit may lie still, until we have cleared the rocks and reefs of the port from whence we sail.  Our freight is Truth, Justice, Honesty, Patriotism, Good Faith, the Rights of the Constitution, and of the People, as developed in the administration of Millard Fillmore.”

Fillmore’s efforts to remain in office fell short when he failed to receive his own party’s nomination, but the North Carolina Whig lived on, publishing at least until 1862.

The North Carolina Whig was nominated for digitization by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.