About the Project

Decades of historic Stillwater-area newspapers will be available online by early 2024

Some say that newspapers are the first draft of history. For communities near Stillwater, that first draft will soon be much easier to access, with more than 85,000 pages of historic newspapers to be made available online by January 2024.

The project is the first phase of the Stillwater Area Historic Newspaper Initiative, a collaboration between the Stillwater Public Library, Stillwater Public Library Foundation, Washington County Historical Society, and the Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission. The project will result in internet access to Stillwater Gazette and Messenger newspapers from the publications’ founding through 1926. Using text recognition technology, the newspapers will be searchable for any name or phrase. The newspaper pages will be free to view and download from anywhere.

Currently, most of these newspaper pages are only accessible on microfilm. Finding information on microfilm is a very time-consuming process, with no name index or ability to search for keywords. Access to microfilm also requires travel to a central location, such as the Stillwater Public Library or the Minnesota History Center in Saint Paul. Digital access will address both limitations.

The Gazette and Messenger were Washington County’s longest-running newspapers. The Gazette was founded in 1870 and continues to publish, while the Messenger was published from 1856 to 1950. Both had various name changes over the years.

The newspapers will be available in the Minnesota Historical Society’s Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub, a free service supported by the Legacy Amendment to preserve Minnesota history and cultural heritage and share Minnesota’s stories. The Hub already contains Messenger issues from 1856­ through 1910 as well as digitized newspapers from Stillwater High School and the Minnesota State Prison. The Bayport Herald newspaper will also be added to the site at a future date.

The Fred C. and Katherine B. Andersen Foundation and the Hugh J. Andersen Foundation provided grants that will fund the first phase of the newspaper initiative. The Stillwater Public Library Foundation is the initiative’s fiscal sponsor, receiving and administering the grant funding. The library foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization established in 2007 to raise funds supporting the city-owned library.

Approximately 8,500 pages will be added each month through January 2024.

Donations and grants will enable future phases of the project, resulting in the digitization of other newspapers from Stillwater and other Washington County communities. Interested donors should contact the Stillwater Public Library Foundation, splf@stillwaterlibraryfoundation.org.