Archives and Local History newspaper collection
Scope and Contents
The Archives and Local History Newspaper Collection includes 98 separate publication titles covering primarily Douglas County, Colorado: 15 focused on Douglas County as a whole, 8 on Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree, 6 on Parker, 5 on Castle Rock, 3 on mining communities in the western part of Douglas County, 9 on Douglas County High School, 9 on Denver, 3 on Douglas County and Elbert County, 10 solely on Elbert County, 9 on Arapahoe County communities of Englewood, Centennial, Greenwood Village, and Cherry Hills, 6 on Littleton, 11 on other areas in Colorado, and 4 in states other than Colorado. The publications' dates span from 1859 to 2022. The majority of the newspapers exist as original print editions and microform. However, there are a few digital and print reproductions.
Dates
- 1859-2022
Historical Note
Reports from the Colorado Miner Weekly and the Rocky Mountain News indicate the earliest known Douglas County newspaper, the Douglas County News, began publication in August 1873. The paper was also known as the Frankstown News for a few months in late 1873 and early 1874. After the Douglas County News ceased publication in winter 1879, a string of publications arose to report the news of Castle Rock and Douglas County. The longest running publication was the Record Journal of Douglas County, which was formed from the merger of two competing newspapers - the Douglas County Record and the Castle Rock Journal - on Jan. 28, 1908. The Record Journal of Douglas County was the main newspaper for Douglas County until it was replaced by the Douglas County News in August 1952. As Douglas County's population grew, publications specific to individual towns and localities emerged. In 1912, the Parker Post was founded to focus on the news of Parker, Colorado. In 1985, the Highlander was the first publication to focus on Highlands Ranch. The Lone Tree Voice appeared in 1999 to cover Lone Tree, Colorado. Publications covering Douglas County that continue to exist as of 2022 are the Castle Rock News Press, the Douglas County News Press, the Parker Chronicle, the Highlands Ranch Herald, the Lone Tree Voice, and the Castle Pines Connection.
Extent
367 Volumes
336 Reels
5.767 Gigabytes (109 files)
237 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The Archives and Local History Collection of Newspapers is arranged in series by primary coverage area of the publication listed in alphabetical order and then in sub-series by publication title in alphabetical order. In the publication title sub-series, items are either further arranged in sub-series by format or, if all items are the same format, arranged in chronological order. Finally, titles divided in sub-series by format are arranged in chronological order.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
The bulk of the collection is in the form of print newspapers. Some editions are on microform and require the use of a microform reader (available in the ALH reading room). Digital reproductions of some publications are available online at the website www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org and on site in the ALH digital storage. Some editions are stored offsite and require at least two-weeks notification to access.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Artificial collection maintained by ALH staff. Primarily consists of items found in collection with no known provenance or materials collected by staff. Many titles were likely transferred to ALH from Douglas County Libraries branch collections. Select publications have documentation indicating they were donated by Douglas County High School, individuals, or a variety of publishing companies.
Accruals
Regular ongoing accruals collected by ALH staff are expected for the Douglas County News Press, a weekly publication. Digital editions of newspapers in the ALH collection are being added annually to the website www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org.
Existence and Location of Copies
Digital access copies of the Record Journal of the Castle Rock Journal (1908-1952), the Douglas County News (1950-1979), Douglas County News Press (1979-1992, digitization ongoing), the Mountain Echo (1897-1899), the West Creek Mining News (1899-1900), the West Creek Times (1896), and the Elbert County Banner (1897-1911), the Littleton Independent (1888-1923), and the Rocky Mountain News Daily (1860-1913), and Rocky Mountain News Weekly (1859-1876) are available online at www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org.
- Journalism Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Newspapers Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Guide to the Archives and Local History Newspaper Collection, 1859-2022 (ongoing)
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- Joan Gandy
- Date
- 2022
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Archives and Local History, Douglas County Libraries Repository
Douglas County Libraries
100 S Wilcox St
Castle Rock CO 80104 United States
303-688-7730
localhistory@dclibraries.org
