Online collection of historic Washington newspapers reaches one million pages

Seattle Star December 1941
Image courtesy University of Washington

As of June 16, 2026 the Washington Digital Newspapers program has officially gathered more than one million pages from historic local newspapers in its online collection.

The digital newspapers program operates under the Washington State Library and the Office of the Secretary of State. Photos of newspaper clippings are available by emailing communications@sos.wa.gov, or can be downloaded after signing up for an account on the website.

The public can access the newspaper archive for free. The archive includes a range of local publications, with some collections that predate statehood and others that include articles from this year. More pages are being added all the time.

A few of the most recent additions include:

• Industrial Worker, Spokane and Seattle, 1909-1931
• The Fig Tree, Spokane, 2003-2024
• Everett Daily Herald, 1920s
• Seattle Star, 1935-1947
• Newport Miner, 2012-2019
• Cascadia Daily News, Bellingham, March 2022-February 2026

The Washington State Library maintains the largest online collection of newspapers published in the state. The library continues to grow its collection in collaboration with local libraries, museums, and publishers to digitize more newspapers for educational and non-commercial use.

The program was established in 2008 as part of the National Digital Newspapers Program and contributed more than 400,000 pages of copyright free newspapers to the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America Website. 

Since participating in the program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and Library of Congress, the Washington Digital Newspapers program has more than doubled the number of available pages.

Researchers who register on the site will find additional features to save search results for long projects. They can also improve search results on their favorite topics using the crowdsourced text correction feature. With over 100 new registrations in May, many people are finding new titles and learning the history of Washington state.