Online newspapers are a great way to further your genealogy and family history research and there are many historic Rhode Island Newspapers Online.
Articles in newspapers can extend your knowledge about individuals and families and reveal information about births, marriages, deaths, social events, occupations, land transactions, legal matters, military service, and so much more. Much of the information one can glean from newspapers articles will not be found in standard BMD (birth, marriage, death) records.
The Rhode Island Historical Society has copies of most newspapers published in Rhode Island, the first being published in 1732, but these have not been digitized by the RIHS. Here’s a list of free Rhode Island newspapers online, with links:
Hope Valley, Rhode Island
- Hope Valley Advertiser, Hope Valley, Rhode Island, 1880s-1940s
Newport, Rhode Island
- French Gazette, Newport, Rhode Island, 1780-1781
- Gazette Francoise, Newport, Rhode Island
- The Guardian of Liberty, Newport, Rhode Island, 1800-1801
- Rhode-Island Republican, Newport, Rhode Island, 1801-1841
- Weekly Companion; and the Commercial Centinel, Newport, Rhode Island, 1798-1799
Olneyville, Rhode Island
(also includes Johnston, Scituate, Smithfield, North Providence, and Foster, Rhode Island)
- Providence County Times, Olneyville, Rhode Island, 1917, 1922-1938 with gaps
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
- Evening Tribune, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, 1889-1921 with gaps
- Pawtucket Evening Tribune, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, 1897-1898
- Pawtucket Tribune, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, 1891-1895
Phenix, Rhode Island
- Pawtuxet Valley Gleaner, Phenix, Rhode Island, 1878-1906 with gaps
Providence, Rhode Island
- American Journal, Providence, Rhode Island, 1779
- Brown Daily Herald, Providence, Rhode Island, 1891-2011
- Corbett’s Herald, Providence, Rhode Island, 18??
- Christian Telescope, Providence, Rhode Island, 1824-1826
- Hope Valley Advertiser, Hope Valley, Rhode Island, 1881-1941
- Manufacturers’ & Farmers’ Journal, Providence and Pawtucket Advertiser, Providence, Rhode Island, 1835-1837, 1843, 1848
- Manufacturers’ & Farmers’ Journal, Providence and Pawtucket Advertiser, Providence, Rhode Island, 1820s-1900s
- Manufacturers’ & Farmers’ Journal, Providence and Pawtucket Advertiser, Providence, Rhode Island, 1820-1821
- Morning Herald, Providence, Rhode Island, 1870-1873
- Morning Star, Providence, Rhode Island, 1869-1870
- News-Democrat, Providence, Rhode Island, 1906-1907
- Pembroke Record, Providence, Rhode Island, 1922-1970
- Providence Gazette, Providence, Rhode Island, 1778-1828
- Providence Daily Post Providence, Rhode Island, 1851-1867
- Providence Evening Press, Providence, Rhode Island, 1859-1935
- Providence Morning Herald, Providence, Rhode Island, 1867
- The Providence Morning Star, Providence, Rhode Island, 1873-1881
- Providence News, Providence, Rhode Island, 1891-1929
- Providence Patriot, Columbian Phenix, Providence, Rhode Island, 1819, 1821
- The Providence Sunday Star, 1882
- Providence Anzeiger, 1889-1918, with a small gap
- Sunday Telegram, Providence, Rhode Island, 1880, 1886, 1887, 1889
- The American Journal and general advertiser, Providence, Rhode Island, 1779-1781
- The Evening News, Providence, Rhode Island, 1808
- The Evening Telegraph, 1881-1906
- The Evening Telegraph, Providence, Rhode Island, 1881-1891, no 1887 editions available
- The Evening Tribune, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, 1889-1891
- The Evening Tribune and Telegram, Providence, Rhode Island, 1835-1837, 1843, 1848
- The Evening Tribune and Telegram, Providence, Rhode Island, 1906
- The Impartial Observer, Providence, Rhode Island, 1800-1801
- The Investigator, and the general
- The News-Tribune, Providence, Rhode Island, 1929
- The Providence Gazette, Providence, Rhode Island, 1778-1783
- The Providence Gazette and Country Journal, Providence, Rhode Island, 1785-1790
- The Providence Journal, Providence, Rhode Island, 1799
- The Sunday Tribune, Providence, Rhode Island, 1908, 1910, 1911, 1912
Warren, Rhode Island
- Bristol County register, Warren, Rhode Island, 1809
Woonsocket, Rhode Island
- La Cloche du Dimanche, Woonsocket, Rhode Island, 1900
- La Tribune, Woonsocket, Rhode Island, 1848-1934 (various years)
- La Tribune de Woonsocket, Woonsocket, Rhode Island, 1896-1899