Newspapers Available On-site

Microfilmed Newspapers

Explore our holdings of newspapers on microfilm, organized by town. There is a small selection of newspapers on microfiche, which can be found with the microfilm collection.

Borrowing Newspaper Microfilm:

Because of the high demand for access to the newspaper collection, only duplicate reels of newspaper microfilm are available through Interlibrary Loan. Please see our Interlibrary Loan page for our Duplicate Microfilm Inventories.

Digitized Microfilm:

The WVRHC has digitized a select few of its microfilm reels; the digital copies are available to view at the Center.

Buckhannon: Record Delta, January-June 1994
Chapmanville: Guyandotte Voice, January-December 1994
Hamlin: Lincoln Journal, January-December 1994
Holden: Four Wing News, December 10, 1942 - June 23, 1949
Madison: Coal Valley News, January-December 1992
Weston: Weston Democrat, January-December 1994

Physical Newspapers

Searching for Newspapers in the Catalog:

Users can research the Center's newspaper holdings using the WVU Libraries' online catalog.

To determine newspaper holdings for a particular West Virginia city or town, combine the word 'newspaper' with the name of the town in a keyword search. Example: charleston newspaper. Then in the Formats box on the left side of the screen, check the "Newspaper" box.

Alternatively, start with the WorldCat Advanced Search. In the Keyword box, type the name of the city and/or newspaper. In the Formats dropdown menu, select "Newspaper".

If you do not find the results you are looking for, help is available in the library at service desks or online at Ask a Librarian.

Recent Issues:

Current issues of West Virginia newspapers are available in the Periodicals Department on the 2nd level of the Downtown Library Complex until they are transferred to the WVRHC. For a list of currently received newspaper titles, please see the West Virginia Newspapers: Current Subscriptions. The list includes links to websites for West Virginia newspapers.

The Charleston newspapers are the only papers that are indexed on a regular basis. Please see Charleston Newspapers' News Library for access to this index. Also, the Charleston Newspaper Index from 1973 to 1988 is available in book format. Other indexes available in book format are for Clarksburg newspapers for the years 1810 to 1825, Kanawha Valley newspapers from 1855 to 1865, the Martinsburg Gazette published from 1810 to 1855, and Mannington newspapers from 1890 to 1899.

Searching for Uncataloged Newspapers:

Most of the WVRHC newspaper collection is on microfilm and can be found by searching our online catalog (see Searching for Newspapers in the Catalog, above).

Some of our newspapers cannot be found in the online catalog—these include our microfilmed miscellaneous newspapers (papers for which we only had a few issues), microfilmed special edition newspapers, and original newspapers. To find and use uncataloged newspapers, please contact the WVRHC at 1-304-293-3536.