New News for Lake County!

The Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC) will be adding additional Lake County content during the next few months.  This new content is brought to you by the Lake County Public Library who is adding a total of 70,000 pages of the Herald Democrat (Leadville) from 1900 to 1919.  The years 1900 to 1908 have been added in the last few weeks and the remaining 11 years will be coming soon.

The Herald Democrat, a morning daily, was formed in 1885 by the merger of papers the Leadville Herald and the Leadville Democrat.   Owner C.C. Davis, a leading newspaper man in Leadville, published the first issue on December 12, 1885.  Davis’ health declined in 1895 and he sold his papers to buyers who formed the Leadville Publishing & Printing Company.  One of the new owners was Simon Guggenheim, whose father Meyer Guggenheim amassed part of the family fortune in mining and smelting in Leadville.  The paper changed hands many times over the years but it is still published today.  

The Lake County Public Library has been committed to adding Lake County historic newspapers to CHNC for the past 9 years.  Along with a bequest from a past president, they have raised money every year for the project. The public library serves hundreds of researchers each year and newspapers are a very important part of helping those researchers.  Janice Fox, Local History Coordinator for the library, noted that the public library’s microfilm collection has received “much use over the years but the ability to search for a name or event is invaluable.”  The addition of these valuable issues will bring the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection to over 800,000 pages of historic Colorado newspaper content.  We are excited for the additions and we hope you are too.  Happy searching!  

If you would like to know how you can add your local newspaper content to CHNC contact me at ljeremias@coloradovirtuallibrary.org.