Delaware Online Historical Newspapers Summary

The Ancestor Hunt regularly adds and updates new collection links, as well as searches for and fixes broken links.
(This page's most recent update is March 2025)

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Delaware is one of the states that does not have a single central online state repository for historical newspapers, but they use the Library of Congress Chronicling America site as their main site for searching old newspapers. There are a few free online newspapers on other sites and collections available on subscription sites. Below is a list of where the titles are stored and the link so that you can access them. 

There are about 300 newspapers that have been published in The First State – certainly, not all of them are searchable online. But there are several that are indeed available. So go for it – find your Delaware ancestors and all the interesting articles that capture the stories of their lives. 

Please note that I have not always entered the dates that are included in the collections, as I suspect they will change as more items are digitized. Also, I suspect that some of these links may change over time – so if there is a dead link – please use your favorite search engine to find their new location. 

(Recently added links are in BOLD)

Delaware Historical Newspapers

Free Sites:

Statewide Collections:

Chronicling America: Delaware Newspapers

The Links for Chronicling America go to the new Version 2.0

Google News Archive

County and Library Collections:

New Castle Public Library Newspapers

  • New Castle County Gazette (1938-1944)
  • Weekly News Letter (1919-1920)
  • New Castle Gazette (1947-1981)
  • New Castle Eagle (1983-1990)
  • Gazette (1981-1983)
  • New Castle Weekly (1969-2023)
  • The Weekly (2018-2019)
  • Weekly (2016-2017)

Seaford Historical Newspapers

  • Sussex County Index
  • The Delmarva Leader
  • Seaford Tribune
  • The Delaware Pilot
  • The Leader and State Register
  • The Seaford News
  • Seaford High Aloha
  • Seaford High Pow Wow

Student Collections:

Delaware State University – Dover

Delaware Tech – multiple campuses

Goldey–Beacom College – Pike Creek Valley

University of Delaware – Newark

Wesley College – Dover

Widener University Delaware Law School – Wilmington

Wilmington University – New Castle

Miscellaneous Collections and Indexes:

Delaware Turnpike Scrapbook (clippings)

Delaware Archives – Newspaper Abstracts and Index

Old Fulton Postcards

Small Town Papers

Southern School News Archive 

Other Free Sites:

Harrington

Laurel

Milford

Middletown

Newark

Wilmington

Subscription or Pay Sites:

Ancestry.com:

There are currently 23 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Ancestry – Delaware Newspapers

Genealogy Bank:

There are currently 135 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Genealogy Bank – Delaware Newspapers

Newspaper Archive:

There are currently 83 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Newspaper Archive – Delaware

Newspapers.com:

There are currently 84 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Newspapers.com – Delaware

And Finally:

You also need to visit the Delaware Digital Newspaper Project site, which can tell you what is occurring in the state regarding newspaper projects and where some microfilmed newspapers are available in the state. 

Please note that even more may be available via a local library, where a library card is required. Of course, there is always microfilm for those that have not been made available online yet.

For more links for different states, provinces, and countries, please see the Newspaper Links page on this website.


For all Free Delaware Collection Links in 24 Genealogy Categories, go to the By Location Page, click on Delaware, and then click on the category of interest.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

Online Newspaper Research FAQs

Why is online newspaper research so challenging?

It’s challenging due to imperfect Optical Character Recognition (OCR), inconsistent indexing, variations in spelling and nicknames, differing journalistic styles over time, and the sheer volume of fragmented, often paywalled, collections. Finding what you need truly feels like a treasure hunt!

What can I do to overcome these OCR errors?

Many researchers utilizing online newspaper archives may not be aware that word searches are performed against a database generated by analyzing whether minute sections of the newspaper are black or white. It is the shape of the collected dots that may (or may not) look like a letter.

To improve search accuracy when encountering OCR errors, it is advisable to intentionally alter your search terms by substituting letters with similar shapes. For example, replacing a lowercase ‘b’ with an ‘h’, or a lowercase ‘e’ with a ‘c’.

What other techniques will produce better results?

In your search criteria, try entering abbreviations, nicknames, and portions of hyphenated words. Numerous other techniques can be found in The Ancestor Hunt’s “Newspaper Research Academy”, which can be accessed at https://theancestorhunt.com/academy.html

Are any Newspaper Databases Free?

Yes. Although some of the largest databases require a subscription, there are many that are free. The Ancestor Hunt has curated links to over 80,000 titles that can be searched for free in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. To use these links, go to its Newspaper Links Page,

3 replies on “Delaware Online Historical Newspapers Summary”

Great to have an online list of DE newspapers. Especially helpful for all the crazy Google News listings.
However, you need to make some changes:
Wilmington – Star
Listed as Delaware, but really Crawfordsville, Indiana.
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Kmip3zU-C7YC&hl=en
Wilmington – Star-News (Morning Star, Wilmington News)
Listed as Delaware, but really North Carolina
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=rQKKVauEoioC&hl=en
Ancestry.com has only two Delaware papers
Wilmingtonian and Delaware Advertiser (1826-27)
Union (Georgetown, Delaware) (1865)
Historical Newspapers Online from the University of Pennsylvania (Server not found)
Thanks for doing these pages.
Rebecca Knight, University of Delaware Library http://guides.lib.udel.edu/delawarenewspapers

Thank you so much Rebecca for your comments. I am in the process of updating all 50 states this month and have not gotten to Delaware just yet. I was going to do that one in the next couple of days. I am so happy that you provided your corrections. Very timely. Delaware as a smaller state just does not have very many online historical newspapers. I will incorporate your changes and refer to your lib guide for additional corrections. Thank you so much. I am a bit embarrassed that there are bad links in my list but that is bound to happen, since I am dealing with over 12,000 free links in the U.S. to online historical papers. Please feel free to email me after I publish the Delaware list if I mess up again. There aren’t many in Delaware but they should be correct. Thanks, Kenneth

Rebecca, the one that you say is Crawfordsville Indiana is correct for the first issue, but subsequent issues are from Delaware. And you are absolutely correct about the Wilmington NC one. Thanks again.

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