Hoosier State Chronicles, Indiana’s digital historic newspaper program operated by the Indiana State Library, will have rare newspapers from St. Joseph County, Noble County and Lake County added to its collection this year. The Walkerton Historical Society, Ligonier Public Library and the Whiting-Robertsdale Historical Society contributed to the project. More than 100,000 pages have already been added to Hoosier State Chronicles this year.

The Walkerton titles feature the St. Joseph County Independent, which later became the Walkerton Independent. This series spans widely from 1886 to 1962, when it would merge into the Independent-News.

Noble County’s long-running newspaper, The Banner, started as the National Banner and changed its name to Ligonier Banner in 1879. Originally published in 1866, John Stoll’s newspaper continued under several owners until 1950, when it lost its competition with its rival, the Leader. The series is a consistent resource for local research.

Later this year, the Whiting-Robertsdale Historical Society’s newspapers will be available in Hoosier State Chronicles. Originally the Whiting Times, the Lake County newspaper changed names to the Ben Franklin News, the Daily Times and finally the Times-Graphic. All iterations of Whiting-area news, from 1928 through 1974, will be provided in an open forum for genealogists and historians.

Veridian Newspaper Digitization Services, the organization that built the Hoosier State Chronicles platform, upgraded their site in January. The update should provide Hoosier State Chronicles users with greater website speed and intuitive functions. Researchers can now easily download and save a clear and crisp page of vintage Indiana newsprint. Visit Hoosier State Chronicles here.

This post was submitted by David Pleiss, newspaper librarian with the Indiana Division of the Indiana State Library.