Florida 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 June 2025)

Florida has a sizable state-wide free online collection for searching historical newspapers. Many states use the Library of Congress Chronicling America site as their main central online site for searching old newspapers. Currently, Florida has quite a few newspapers also available on that site. There are free online newspapers available on other sites and collections available on subscription sites. Below is a list of where the titles are stored and the link to access them. 

There are over 2,300 newspapers that have been published in the Sunshine State – certainly, not all of them are searchable online. But there are several that are indeed available. So go for it – find your Florida 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)

Florida Historical Newspapers

Free Sites:

Statewide Collections:

Chronicling America – Florida

The Links for Chronicling America go to the new Version 2.0

Google News Archive

Florida Digital Newspaper Library

 

 

 

 

 

 

County and Library Collections:

Boca Raton Newspaper Archive

  • Boca Raton News (1955–1970)
  • The Pelican (1948–1953)
  • The Spanish River Papers (1973–1987)
  • The Weekly Tattler (June–September 1938)

Boynton Beach Public Library Digital Newspapers

  • Boynton Beach Monday Paper 
  • Boynton Beach News
  • Boynton Beach News Journal
  • Boynton Beach Star
  • Boynton Bugle
  • Boynton Herald
  • Boynton Hi-Lite
  • Lake Worth Herald
  • Lucene Herald
  • Palm Beach Post Brown Wrapper
  • Sun Sentinel Sunday Brown Wrapper
  • The Boynton News
  • The Boynton Progress
  • The Examiner
  • The Times-Leader

Central Florida Memory Newspapers

  • Lochmede
  • Orange County Reporter
  • Sanford Chronicle
  • Sanford Today
  • St. Cloud Tribune
  • Stetson Collegiate
  • The Greeter
  • The Rollins Sandspur
  • The Script
  • This Week in Sanford

Coral Gables Memory – Newspapers

  • Coral Gables Times
  • The Guide
  • The Times-Leader
  • Coral Gables Riviera
  • Coral Gables Riviera Times
  • Riviera Times
  • The Times

Florida Hidden Treasures

  • Bay County Beacon-Tribune
  • Beach Bay News
  • Bristol Free Press
  • De Funiak Springs Signal
  • Destin Log
  • Destin Weekly Log
  • Jackson County Floridan
  • Lynn Haven Citizen
  • Lynn Haven Free Press
  • Lynn Haven Tribune
  • North Bay Breeze
  • Okaloosa News-Journal
  • Panama City Pilot
  • Panama Kraft Messenger
  • Panama Kraft News
  • Papoose
  • Smoke Signals
  • St Andrews Bay News
  • St Andrews Buoy
  • The Bay Liner
  • The Breeze
  • The Chipley Banner
  • The Defuniak Herald
  • The Defuniak Times
  • The Florala News
  • The Florala News Democrat
  • The Gazette
  • The Weekly Spokesman
  • The West Florida Star
  • West Florida Daily Globe

Union County Public Library

  • Union County Times (1934-2002)

University of South Florida Newspaper Archives

Student Collections:

Barry University – Miami Shores

Broward College – Fort Lauderdale

Christopher Columbus High School – Miami

College of Boca Raton – Boca Raton

Coral Reef Senior High School – Miami

Daytona State College – Daytona Beach

Eckerd College – St. Petersburg

Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University – Daytona Beach

Flagler College – St. Augustine

Florida A&M University – Tallahassee

Florida Atlantic University – Boca Raton

Florida Gulf Coast University – Fort Meyers

Florida Institute of Technology – Melbourne

Florida International University – Miami

Florida Southern College – Sutherland

Florida State College – Jacksonville

Florida State University – Tallahassee

Florida State University College of Law – Tallahassee

Gulf Coast State College – Panama City

    Lakeland High School – Lakeland

    Lakewood High School – St.Petersburg

    Lynn University – Boca Raton

    Marymount College – Boca Raton

    Miami Dade College North – Miami

    Miami Dade College – Miami

    Miami Palmetto Senior High School – Palmetto

    Miami Senior High School – Miami

    New College of Florida – Sarasota

    Nova Southeastern University – Fort Lauderdale

    Palm Beach Atlantic University – West Palm Beach

    Palm Beach State College – Lake Worth

    Rollins College – Winter Park

    Roosevelt Junior College – West Palm Beach

    Saint Leo University – St. Leo

    Seminole State College – Sanford

    Stetson University – DeLand

    Tallahassee Community College – Tallahassee

    University of Central Florida – Orlando

    University of Florida – Gainesville

    University of Miami – Coral Gables

    University of North Florida – Jacksonville

    University of South Florida – St. Petersburg

    University of South Florida – Tampa

    University of Tampa – Tampa

    University of West Florida – Pensacola

    Valencia College – Orlando

    Miscellaneous Collections and Indexes:

    Jacksonville Newspaper Indexes

    • The Jacksonville Journal
    • The Florida Times-Union
    • The Florida Times-Union Star Edition

    Independent Voices – Alternative Newspapers

    • Balaklava
    • The Flamingo Park Gazette
    • WomaNews
    • Defense Committee Newsletter
    • Hogarm
    • Instauration
    • Olive Branch, The

    Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Newspapers 1933-1942

    Southern School News Archive

    Small Town Papers

    Old Fulton Postcards

    For Obituary Indexes, transcriptions, and other death/obituary information from historical newspapers, please check out the Obituaries page. ​​

    Other Free Sites:

    Broward County    

    Camp Blanding

    Clearwater

    Cocoa

    Deland

    Dunedin

    ​Ft. Lauderdale

    Gainesville

    Hollywood

    Jacksonville

    Key West

    Miami​

    Miami Beach

    Miami-Dade County

    Pensacola

    Safety Harbor

    St. Augustine

    St. Cloud

    Starke

    Temple Terrace

    Winter Park

    Subscription or Pay Sites:

    Ancestry.com:

    There are currently 30 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Ancestry – Florida Newspapers

    Genealogy Bank:

    There are currently 341 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Genealogy Bank – Florida Newspapers

    Newspaper Archive:

    There are currently 143 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Newspaper Archive – Florida

    Newspapers.com:

    There are currently 125 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Newspapers.com – Florida.

    And Finally:

    You also need to visit the University of Florida Libraries site from time to time, which can tell you what is occurring in the state with regard to online and other format newspaper availability.

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

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

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

    Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

    2 replies on “Florida Online Historical Newspapers Summary”

    I grew up in Hialeah, FL during the 50s. There was a small new paper called “The Home News.” If possible, I’d like to know how I can research and get copies of issues of that news paper. Can you help?
    Thank you!!

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *