Minnesota Online Historical Newspapers Summary

Minnesota has quite a few free online collections for searching historical newspapers. Several states use the Library of Congress Chronicling America site as their main central online site for searching old newspapers and currently, Minnesota has several newspapers available on that site. There are many free online newspapers also available on other sites and there are 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 almost  4,000 newspapers that have been published in the North Star State – certainly not all of them are searchable online. But there are several that are indeed available. So go for it – find your Minnesota 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. 

(Updated January 20244; recently added links are in BOLD)

Minnesota Historical Newspapers

Free Sites:

Statewide Collections:

Chronicling America – Minnesota Newspapers 

Google News Archive

Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub

Please Note: From the State – “Due to potential copyright restrictions most issues published less than 95 years ago can only be accessed from the Gale Family Library at the Minnesota History Center.”

County and Library Collections:

Goodhue County
Red Wing Public Library

  • Advance Republican
  • Advance Sun
  • Daily Advance Republican
  • Goodhue County Republican
  • Red Wing Argus
  • Red Wing Republican
  • Republican​

Martin County
Martin County Public Library

  • Fairmont Chain
  • Fairmont Daily Sentinel
  • Fairmont News
  • Granada Sun
  • Granada Times
  • Martin County Democrat
  • Martin County Independent
  • Martin County Review
  • Martin County Sentinel
  • Sherburn Advance
  • Sherburn Advance Standard
  • Triumph Progress
  • Truman Tribune
  • Welcome Times

Student Collections:

Augsburg University – Minneapolis

Bemidji State University – Bemidji

Bethel University – Saint Paul

Carleton College – Northfield

College of Saint Benedict – Saint Joseph

College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University – Saint Joseph

College of St. Scholastica – Duluth

Concordia College – Moorhead

Concordia Unitversity – St. Paul

Gustavus Adolphus College – Saint Peter

Eden Prairie High School – Eden Prairie

Hamline University – Saint Paul

Luther Seminary – Saint Paul

Macalester College – Saint Paul

Metropolitan State University – Saint Paul

Minnesota State University – Mankato

Minnesota State University – Moorhead

North Central University – Minneapolis

Rochester Community and Technical College – Rochester

St. Catherine University – Saint Paul

St. Cloud State University – St. Cloud

St. Olaf College – Northfield

University High School – Minneapolis

University of Minnesota – Duluth

University of Minnesota – Minneapolis

University of Minnesota – Morris

University of St. Thomas – Saint Paul

Winona State University – Winona

Miscellaneous Collections and Indexes:

Brainerd Historic Newspapers  (Click on History)

  • Brainerd Tribune
  • Brainerd Dispatch

Carver County Historical Society Newspaper/Resource Search  (Index)

Duluth Public Library Newspaper Indexes

Minneapolis Community Newspapers

  • The Alley
  • Bryn Mawr Bugle
  • Hill & Lake Press
  • The Horn
  • Hundred Flowers
  • Northeaster
  • The Powderhorn Paper
  • Wedge

University of Minnesota Libraries, Immigration History Research Center Archives

  • Dongó (Hungarian)
  • E Aletheia (Greek)
  • Il Grido Del Popolo (Italian)
  • Il Messaggero (Italian)
  • Il Nuovo Vessillo (Italian)
  • Il Paese (Italian)
  • Il Vindice (Italian)
  • La Stampa Libera (Italian)
  • L’Adunata dei Refrattari (Italian)
  • Nomotages (Greek)
  • Scugnizzo (Italian)
  • Roma (Italian)
  • Ruskii Emigrant (Russian)
  • Uusi Kotimaa (Finnish)
  • Vita Nuova (Italian)
  • La Prensa de Minnesota

Winona Newspaper Project 1855-1976

  • Winona Argus
  • Winona Daily News
  • Winona Daily Republican
  • Winona Republican-Herald

Independent Voices – Alternative Press

  • Little Free Press, The
  • Minnesota Homefront Sniper
  • Minnesota Veteran for peace
  • Mother (Northfield)
  • National Communication Network for the elimination of violence against women
  • Twin Cities Protester
  • Veterans’ Voice

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Newspapers 1933-1942

Small Town Papers

Old Fulton Postcards

Newspaper Abstracts – Minnesota

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

Other Free Sites:

Anoka

Brainerd

Chaska

Crookston

Duluth

Fosston

Hastings

Holt

Mankato

Minneapolis

New Ulm

Owatonna

Shakopee

Stillwater

St. Cloud

St. Paul

St. Paul and Minneapolis

Taylor Falls

Winnebago


Subscription or Pay Sites:

Ancestry.com:

There are currently 28 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Ancestry – Minnesota Newspapers

Genealogy Bank:

There are currently 416 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Genealogy Bank – Minnesota Newspapers

Newspaper Archive:

There are currently 151 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Newspaper Archive – Minnesota

Newspapers.com:

There are currently 129 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Newspapers.com – Minnesota

And Finally:

You also need to visit the Minnesota Digital Newspaper Project site from time to time, which can tell you what is occurring in the state with regard to online 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 Minnesota Collection Links in 24 Genealogy Categories, go to the By Location Page, click on Minnesota, and then click on the category of interest.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

5 replies on “Minnesota Online Historical Newspapers Summary”

I don’t understand the dates which you give beside the place name. For example, under the Collections – Chronicling America for Minnesota, you have listed “Minneapolis, Minn., 1838-1939” – with a link to the Minneapolis Journal. However, Chronicling America only have issues for the years 1901 to 1906.

Thank you so much, I am so excited to really get into researching this site! Visited before but now has Albert Lea included!

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