Puerto Rico has two sites that hold most of the digitized historical newspapers- Chronicling America and the University of Florida.. Below is a list of where the titles are stored and the link so that you can access them.
There are over 570 newspapers that have been published in Puerto Rico – certainly not all of them are searchable online. But there are several that are indeed available. So go for it – find your Puerto Rico 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 February 2022; recently added links are in BOLD)
Free Sites:
Island-wide Collections:
Chronicling America – Puerto Rico Newspapers
- San Juan – Boletín mercantil de Puerto Rico
- Rio Piedras – Gazeta de Puerto-Rico
- San Juan – La correspondencia de Puerto Rico
- Ponce – La democracia
- San Juan – El Mundo
- San Juan – El Imparcial
Municipality and Library Collections:
University of Florida Library
- Cabo Rojo – Faro del Suroeste
- Carolina – Isla Nena
- Fajarado – Pagina del Este
- ManatiI – Dentidad
- Palmas del Mar – Live & life in Palmas
- Ponce – La democracia
- Rio Grande – Bosque Pluvial
- Rio Piedras – Gazeta de Puerto-Rico
- Rio Piedras – Sargasso
- San Juan – Borinqueneers
- San Juan – Claridad
- San Juan – Correspondencia de Puerto Rico
- San Juan – El Mundo
- San Juan – Presente Magazine
- San Juan – Siempre Presente
- Santurce – El Morro
- Vieques – El Nuevo Vieques
- Vieques – Página de Cheo
- Vieques – The Vieques Times
- Periodicos Historicos de Puerto Rico
Other Free Sites:
Rio Piedras
San Juan
Subscription or Pay Sites:
Genealogy Bank:
There are currently 5 publications available at this site. See all the titles at Genealogy Bank – Puerto Rico Newspapers
Newspaper Archive:
There are currently 4 publications available at this site. See all the titles at Newspaper Archive – Puerto Rico
Newspapers.com:
There is currently 3 publications available at this site. See all the titles at Newspapers.com – Puerto Rico
And Finally:
You also need to visit the Florida and Puerto Rico Newspaper Project site, which can tell you what is occurring on the island with regard to newspaper projects.
Please note – even more may be available via a local 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.
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
Online Newspaper Research FAQs
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!
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’.
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
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,