South Dakota 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 April 2025)

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South Dakota is one of the states that does not have a single central online state repository for searching historical newspapers, and they do use the Library of Congress Chronicling America site as their main site for searching old newspapers. There are several 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 almost 1,500 newspapers that have been published in the Mount Rushmore State – certainly not all of them are searchable online. But there are several that are indeed available. So go for it – find your South Dakota 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)

South Dakota Historical Newspapers

Free Sites:

Statewide Collections:

Chronicling America – South Dakota​

​The Links for Chronicling America go to the new Version 2.0

Google News Archive

South Dakota Newspaper Indexes

  • Black Hills Daily Times
  • Indian Country Today
  • Rapid City Journal
  • SDSU Collegian Index
  • Sioux Falls Argus-Leader

County and Library Collections:

Clay County

Vermillion Public Library

  • The Dakota Republican (1862-1928)
  • Vermillion Plain Talk (1893-1928)
  • Wakonda Monitor (1891-1928)
  • The Volante (1896-1928)
  • The Clay County Register (1872-1875)
  • The Vermillion Standard (1876-1881)
  • The Dakota Republican and Vermillion Standard (1882-1884)
  • Semi-Weekly Register (1875-1876)
  • The Vermillionaire (1928-1929)
  • The Wagner Post (1925-1956)
  • The Summer Session News (1923-1923)

Codington County

Watertown Regional Library

  • Aberdeen Daily American (1910-1910)
  • Sioux Falls Argus – Leader (1956-1956)
  • The Dakota News (1879-1883)
  • The Hill News (1902-1904)
  • The Saturday News (1908-1919)
  • The Watertown Herald (1903-1945)
  • The Watertown Kampeskian (1893-1896)
  • The Watertown Times (1914-1914)
  • Watertown Daily Public Opinion (1893-1919)
  • Watertown Photo News (1949-1954)
  • Watertown Public Opinion (1887-1957)
  • Watertown Reminder (1938-1949)

Grant County

Grant County Public Library

  • Almueven
  • Almuevennen
  • Big Stone Headlight
  • Blue Blanket Leader
  • Brown County Sentinel
  • Carteronian
  • Country Teacher
  • Frontier Scout
  • Grant County News
  • Grant County Review
  • Grant County Teacher
  • Grant County Tribune
  • Harris Graphic
  • Lyman County Journal
  • Marvin Monitor
  • Milbank Herald Advance
  • Milbank High School Yearbooks
  • Pierre Daily Recorder
  • Pukwana Press Reporter
  • Sioux Falls Daily Press
  • Sioux Valley News
  • South Dakota Oil News
  • South Shore Republican
  • Spring Lake Star
  • Summit Signal
  • Syd Dakota Ekko
  • The Advance
  • The Aurora Times
  • The Black Hills Pioneer
  • The Brushie Blade
  • The Country Teacher
  • The Daily Hot Springs Star
  • The Daily Revival Herald
  • The Dakota Citizen
  • The Dakota Gazette
  • The Democrat
  • The Egan Express
  • The Elk Point Tribune
  • The Farmer
  • The Farmingdale Gimlet
  • The Faulkton Herald
  • The Fielder Times
  • The Grant County Herald
  • The Herald
  • The Herald Advance
  • The Inkpa Headlight
  • The Milbank Herald Advance
  • The Milbank Index
  • The Millbank News Letter
  • The Milwaukee Road News
  • The New Era
  • The Onida Watchman
  • The Parker Press Leader
  • The Pierre Daily Signal
  • The Pierre Recorder
  • The Pioneer
  • The Rapid City Evening Herald
  • The Record Republican
  • The Sioux Falls Press
  • The South Dakota Messenger
  • The South Dakota Wheat Grower
  • The Summit Independent
  • The Valley Pioneer
  • The Weekly Item
  • The Wentworth Bond
  • The Wentworth City Bond
  • Vesterheimen
  • Western Stock Growers Journal

Hutchinson County

Parkston Public Library

  • Dakota City Advance (1885-1886)
  • The Parkston Advance (1886-2018)
  • The Parkston Courier (1900)

Lake County

Madison Public Library

  • The Madison Daily Leader (1890-1925)
  • The Lake County Leader (1893-1893)
  • The Mitchell Daily Republican (1914-1914)
  • The Madison Daily Sentinel (1920-1921)
  • The Aberdeen Journal (1921-1921)

Union County

Beresford Public Library 

  • The Union County Republic (1897-1897)
  • The Beresford Republic (1898-2014)
  • The Republic Beresford (1898-1898)
  • The Beresford Union County Republic (1898-1898)
  • The Beresford News (1899-1926)
  • The Beresford Weekly News (1908-1909)

Yankton County

Yankton Community Library

  • Daily Dakota Herald (1912-1912)
  • Daily Press and Dakotaian (1876-1889)
  • Daily Press and Dakotan Gazette (1903-1906)
  • Semi Weekly Dakota Herald (1904-1915)
  • Semi Weekly Yankton Press and Dakotan (1908-1911)
  • The Dakota Herald (1873-1904)
  • The Dakotian (1862-1864)
  • The Press and Dakotaian (1873-1873)
  • The Union and Dakotaian (1864-1871)
  • The Volin Telegram (1900-1900)
  • The Weekly Dakotian (1861-1861)
  • The Yankton Daily Gazette (1897-1903)
  • The Yankton Press and Union and Dakotaian (1873-1882)
  • The Yankton Press and Union and Dakotan (1902-1902)
  • The Yankton Press (1870-1873)
  • The Yankton Weekly Gazette (1898-1900)
  • Yankton Daily Journal (1891-1891)
  • Yankton Daily Press and Dakotaian (1875-1888)
  • Yankton Press and Dakotan and Dakota Herald (1919-1922)
  • Yankton Press and Dakotan and The Yankton Daily Gazette (1903-1903)
  • Yankton Press and Dakotan (1889-1924)

Deadwood Historical Newspapers Index  

  • Black Hill Daily Times
  • Black Hills Champion
  • Black Hills Daily Pioneer Times
  • Black Hills Daily Pioneer
  • Black Hills Herald
  • Black Hills Pioneer
  • Black Hills Pioneer-Times
  • Black Hills Times Weekly
  • Black Hills Weekly Pioneer
  • Black Hills Weekly Times
  • Lead Daily Pioneer-Times

Student Collections:

Augustana Academy – Canton

Augustana University – Sioux Falls

Black Hills State University – Spearfish

Dakota State University – Madison

Mount Marty College – Yankton

Lead High School – Lead

Northern State University – Aberdeen

Sinte Gleska University – Mission

South Dakota School of Mines & Technology – Rapid City

South Dakota State University – Brookings

University of Sioux Falls – Sioux Falls

University of South Dakota – Vermillion

​Miscellaneous Collections and Indexes:

Independent Voices – Alternative Newspapers

  • Lakota Times

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Newspapers 1933-1942

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:

Huron

Martin

Pierre

Subscription or Pay Sites:

Ancestry.com:

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

Genealogy Bank:

There are currently 138 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Genealogy Bank – South Dakota Newspapers

Newspaper Archive:

There are currently 87 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Newspaper Archive – South Dakota

Newspapers.com:

There are currently 131 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Newspapers.com – South Dakota.

And Finally:

You also need to visit the State Historical Society 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 South Dakota Collection Links in 24 Genealogy Categories, go to the By Location Page, click on South Dakota, 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,

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