Maine Newspapers

Newspapers have been published in Portland, Maine, since 1785. Many cities and towns first published newspapers in the 1820s or 1830s. Other towns began publishing in the 1870s. Some indexes to marriage notices and obituaries in newspapers have been published.

The University of Maine's Fogler Library has the state's largest newspaper collecti on and indexes to several papers. The Portland Public Library has indexes to 16 Portland newspapers for 1785 to 1845. The Maine Historical Society also has indexes to several papers. The Family History Library has very few Maine newspapers but does have:

Maine Newspaper Archive $ (GenealogyBank $) Twenty-two early Maine 18th and 19th century newspapers, 1785-1898 online. Indexes (free); digital images ($). These newspapers are from Augusta, Bangor, Belfast, Brunswick, Castine, Eastport, Falmouth, Hallowell, Kennebunk, Portland, Saco and Wiscasset.

Young, David C. Young. Vital Records from Maine Newspapers, 1785-1820. Two Volumes. Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, 1993. (Family History Library ). This is an alphabetical list of notices of births and marriages; death notices which include cause of death; miscellaneous notices of runaways and thieves.

Web Sites

 * http://www.library.umaine.edu/speccoll/
 * http://www.portlandlibrary.com/
 * http://www.maine.info/newspaper.html
 * http://bit.ly/h5Hnp4 $ Maine Newspaper Archives - GenealogyBank