More than 83,000 pages of past issues of the Houston Herald are available on the publication’s website this week, marking the completion of a project that started last fall.
It is believed to be the most complete digital archive among weekly newspapers in the state.
The Herald has chronicled the history of the area since 1878.
The searchable collection begins in May 1881 and extends until this year. Users click the “archives” tab on the home page at houstonherald.com.
Searchable images show each week’s newspaper, and allows a user to complete a detailed search for information, save a clipping into their own scrapbook and share the information by email, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest or embed the clipping on a website.
About 12 years ago, the Herald rolled out its archives from 1948 to the present. The latest content fills the gap from the 1880s to 1947. In addition to the Houston Herald, archives include some select issues from the Houston Republican, Texas County Pioneer (a southern Missouri journal in 1869), Texas County Sentinel (1890-1893) and Houston Democrat (1881-1883).
Access to historic articles, photos and newspaper pages are a treasure-trove for academics, students, genealogists and history buffs, but the work was previously difficult: It required hundreds of hours of work looking at scratchy microfilm at the Texas County Library or The State Historical Society of Missouri in Columbia, which assisted in the development of the digital project.
Here’s how it works:
•Archives can be accessed through an affordable subscription through the houstonherald.com website under “archives.” The cost is $4.95 for a month’s access or $19.95 for six months. The Herald’s host vendor, Newspapers.com, and its affiliate, Ancestry.com, have archives of thousands of publications.
•The database is searchable by name, subject or by date. The online search will display the whole page, articles, photos and ads.
•Two videos are included on the page to help start using the archives. One is an introduction and the other teaches how to search.
More than 80,000 pages of past issues of the Houston Herald are now available online.Â
•The help center provides information on searching, viewing papers, printing and downloading, clipping, saving to Ancestry, saving a search, following a paper or person, among others. Subscribers also can take a free online course on getting the scoop on their ancestors.
The Houston Herald archives are available by a monthly ($4.95) or six- month subscription ($19.95). Persons can subscribe here.