Concord, Massachusetts Newspapers

The Concord Free Public Library holds close-to-complete runs of all Concord newspapers from 1816 to the present time.  Several newspapers are available digitally. All of them are available on microfilm, and we plan to make all titles available digitally soon.

The Massachusetts State Prison at Concord opened in 1878. In 1884, Concord’s institution became a men’s reformatory, and in 1955, the reformatory’s name changed to Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Concord (MCI-Concord). Starting in 1885 and continuing into the early 1990s, incarcerated individuals at the Concord prison published their newspaper. Five titles held in its collection are now available to view online.

For all practical purposes, printing was introduced in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1816, when Bettis and Peters set up shop on the Mill Dam, established the Middlesex Gazette as Concord’s first newspaper, and assumed the role of printing as well. Between 1816 and 1852, newspaper publishing in Concord was characterized by frequent changes of title and management. Between 1852 and 1875, Concord information appeared in the Lowell newspapers.

  • Concord Enterprise (1888-1967) available digitally courtesy of the Acton Memorial Library
  • The Concord Minuteman (1915-1916) microfilm only
  • The Concord Herald (1930-1944) microfilm only
  • The Colonial (1950-1958) microfilm only
  • Concord Free Press (1961-1974) microfilm only
  • The Concord Journal (1958-present) microfilm only
  • The Concord Patriot (1974-1981) microfilm only

Concord Reformatory/MCI Concord Prison Newspapers - 1885-1991, published as part of Reveal Digital’s American Prison Newspapers Collection