MILLIONTH PAGE - The millionth page on the Northern New York Historical Newspapers’ website (news.nnyln.net) is part of the 84,000 pages of the Potsdam Courier-Freeman, which is the latest newspaper to be added to the site. The newspapers site is a project of the Northern New York Library Network. NNYLN Systems Administrator Thomas Blauvelt and Potsdam Public Museum Director/Curator Mimi Van Deusen view one of the actual pages of the old paper published on July 28, 1915.

PAPER FROM THE PAST - The lead headline of the Potsdam Courier-Freeman on July 28, 1915 stated, "Prosperous Potsdam - Located On The Most Productive Waterway In New York State." This page is one of 84,000 included in the 1861-1989 run of the paper now posted on the Northern New York Historical Newspapers’ website.

POTSDAM - Only a short time ago a mere 10 newspapers consisting of 105,000 pages made up the Northern New York Historical Newspapers website. Now just over three years later, the millionth page has been added!

The NNY Historical Newspapers site, found at news.nnyln.net, in fact now holds 1,004,000 pages from more than 28 newspapers. Along with the exciting announcement of the millionth page, the site itself has just been through a major redesign in which researches can now search directly by county. But if they prefer, they can still search by looking at a list of the individual newspapers.

The Northern New York Historical Newspapers are provided by the Northern New York Library Network based in Potsdam to enhance access to the region’s unique local history.

The millionth page is part of the 84,000 pages of the Potsdam Courier-Freeman, which is the latest newspaper to the added to the site. The inclusion of this paper includes a run from 1861 to 1989. In 1989 the Potsdam Courier-Freeman merged with the Massena Observer to become the Daily Courier-Observer, which still serves as the local newspaper today.

The addition of the Potsdam Courier-Freeman was made possible with the cooperation of the publisher of the Daily Courier-Observer, and the financial support of the Friends of the Potsdam Museum.

Potsdam Public Museum Director/Curator Mimi Van Deusen noted it is happenstance that the run of the Potsdam Courier-Freeman consists of the millionth page.

"This is wonderful for the entire community," she said. "To be the millionth page is a pure thrill!

"This is a unique tool for research purposes at the Potsdam Public Museum, and we would like to thank the Northern New York Library Network, the Friends of the Potsdam Museum who funded the project, and the Daily Courier-Observer for preserving this invaluable resource for the local community and posterity," Ms. Van Deusen said.

NNYLN Systems Administrator Thomas Blauvelt noted the entire newspapers project has been very popular, and the cooperation from many levels has been wonderful.

"It is being used by people with a wide range of interests. The technology is not perfect, but it does allow us to provide greatly increased access to these newspapers," he said.

"The libraries of the region have been very cooperative in sharing their collections. We have also had excellent cooperation from the owners and publishers of the newspapers now on the site; they all appreciate the value of the historical records their companies have created and they have been generous in allowing us to share them with everyone," Mr. Blauvelt stated.

As part of the new county search component on the Northern New York Historical Newspapers website, researchers can click on any of the seven counties encompassed in the Northern New York Library Network’s region and view the available newspapers.

Clinton County includes: Cardinal Points of SUNY Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh Press-Republican, Plattsburgh Republican, and Plattsburgh Sentinel.

Essex County includes: Adirondack Record-Elizabethtown Post, Elizabethtown Post, Essex County Republican, Lake Placid News, Saranac Lake Adirondack Daily Enterprise, and Ticonderoga Sentinel.

Franklin County includes: Akwesasne Indian Time, Chateaugay Journal & Chateaugay Record, Fort Covington Sun, Malone Farmer, Malone Franklin Gazette, St. Regis Falls Adirondack News, and Saranac Lake Adirondack Daily Enterprise.

Jefferson County includes: Watertown Herald.

Lewis County includes: Lowville Journal & Republican.

Oswego County includes: Fulton Patriot, and Oswegonian of SUNY Oswego.

St. Lawrence County includes: Canton Commercial Advertiser, Clarkson Integrator of Clarkson University, Gouverneur Tribune-Press and others, North Country Catholic, Ogdensburg Advance and Ogdensburg Advance-News, Potsdam Courier-Freeman, Potsdam Herald-Recorder, and Potsdam St. Lawrence Herald.

The Northern New York Library Network is a regional multitype library agency primarily dedicated to cooperatively providing support and services necessary for all of its members to meet their individual goals. The Network serves libraries in the seven counties of Northern New York. The Network also hosts a number of computer classes and other training courses, many of which are open to the public. Its building in Potsdam has meeting rooms and a computer lab which are available to rent by the general public or business community. For more information on the Network, call 315-265-1119, or go to www.nnyln.org