from the Estes Park Museum and the Estes Valley Library
Link Here to the Colorado Historic Newspapers site. Then click “Browse” to find Estes Park Trail by title.
A town’s historic newspapers are a treasure trove. They document the story and journey of a community, through the words and images of those who lived through events and decisions in “real time”. This history provides insights into the aspirations, values, and everyday surroundings of our present day, while offering perspective on our momentum into the future. Entering these windows into the past is exciting, whether you’re gathering specific research or simply browsing pages for fun.
Decades of Estes Park’s historic newspapers are now available in a high-quality, keyword-searchable format that can be accessed anywhere 24/7. These digital newspapers are complete page-by-page reproductions of the originals—including all articles, images and ads. The project began with some of Estes Park’s earliest newspapers and has been completed through March of 1965, with progress continuing rapidly–and ahead of the original timeline.
The project has been made possible by a partnership between the Estes Park Museum and the Estes Valley Library. The Museum is preserving the fragile original editions of these newspapers, while the Library is focusing on providing digital access opportunities. The effort would not have been possible without a third key partner: the Estes Park Trail-Gazette has granted this project permission for copyright-free access to their archives.
Are you researching a local person or place from early Estes, but not exactly sure where to begin? A keyword search will identify matches from all the digitized years of the Estes Park Trail. The process uses state-of-the-art Optical Character Recognition technology that can recognize text through a digital image, making all newspapers from 1908-1965 word searchable, including advertisements.
Are you looking for an article or ad published in a specific year? You can simply narrow your search by date range. It has never been easier to retrieve information from Estes Park’s historic newspapers. And because the public will access these resources online, the Museum is now better able to preserve the fragile original editions.
The Library and Museum have been sharing financial and logistical responsibility for this project while exploring grant opportunities to increase turnaround. Fundraising efforts have been led by the Friends & Foundation groups of both organizations. Generous local and regional support has been made possible by the Town of Estes Park, the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado, the Estes Park Woman’s Club, the Village Thrift Shop, and the Rotary Club of Estes Park. Appreciation also goes to the Colorado State Library for making their statewide historic newspaper platform available for these files.
To browse these historic newspapers, as well as keep up with project updates on years available, visit the Estes Park Museum website and link to “Museum Collection and Research, or visit https://estesvalleylibrary.org/local-history. Your history awaits.