13Titles
Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Alamance County Public Library
Burlington, North Carolina
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Burlington.
1875 to 2025Dates represented
See individual titles for available dates.
1,613,526Archive pages
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Burlington, North Carolina.
Explore the past of Burlington, North Carolina through newspapers in the Alamance County Public Library's digital archive. Its thirteen titles include material from 1875 to 2025.
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Selected titles
The titles shared by Alamance County Public Library include “Mebane Enterprise” and “The Sunday Times-News”.
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Free and open access
No subscription or payment required.
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A closer look
An earlier generation comes into view through the stories its newspapers chose to report, placing familiar names and events within the concerns of their time.
Reporting from the time can reveal how people described the events, work and concerns of their day, placing a local story within the history unfolding around it. Whether you are tracing a family connection, exploring a local event or sharing history with a class, there is more to discover than names and dates alone. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.
Explore the collection
Titles in this collection
Browse thirteen titles and 1,613,526 digitized pages, with material from 1875 to 2025. This collection is shared through Alamance County Public Library's partnership with Advantage Archives. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.
Every search for the past starts with a question. Explore the titles below, follow the sources that speak to it, and see what new detail appears.
Mebane Enterprise
100 pages in 2024
The Alamance Gleaner
37,788 pages from 1875 to 1947
The Alamance News
3,432 pages from 2021 to 2024
The Alamance News
72,914 pages from 1985 to 2025
The Alamance-Orange Enterprise
156 pages in 1991
The Burlington News
56 pages in 2003
The Daily Times-News
1,422,430 pages from 1954 to 2025
The Mebane Enterprise
64,414 pages from 1922 to 2024
The Mebane Enterprise And Hillsborough Journal
4,074 pages from 1965 to 1967
The Mebane Leader
2,264 pages from 1911 to 1915
The News Of Orange County
3,368 pages from 2023 to 2025
The Saturday Times-News
640 pages in 1978
The Sunday Times-News
1,890 pages in 1978
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About the Archive
About The Alamance County Public Library’s History Archives
The Alamance County Public Library is committed to preserving the rich history of Alamance County and its surrounding regions. In collaboration with Advantage Archives , the library provides free access to historical newspapers, offering a valuable resource for researchers, genealogists, and history enthusiasts.
About the Community
About Alamance County
The earliest recorded mention of what would become Alamance County dates back to 1670, when Dr. John Lederer, a German explorer, documented the Native American trading paths in the region, then part of Orange County. He described the Oenocks or Eno settlement near modern-day Hillsborough and referenced the Shackory Indians, who lived in the area. British explorer John Lawson also chronicled his journey through the region in the early 1700s. In 1701, he described spending a cold, windy night near the stony banks of “the famous Hau-River, called by some the ‘Reatkin’.” He noted the presence of the Sissipahaw tribe along the river, praising the land as extraordinarily rich, full of good timber, and capable of supporting “some thousands of families.” Lawson’s final thoughts on the area summed up its potential: “…no Man that will be content within the Bounds of Reason, can have any grounds to dislike it. And they that are otherwise, are the best Neighbours, when farthest of.” — *A New Voyage to Carolina* by John Lawson.
Partner Story
Early History of Alamance County
Before European settlers arrived, the Sissipahaw people inhabited the region, living primarily along the Haw River. Over time, European settlers followed the established Native American trading paths, which later became the foundation for railroad and highway routes. As settlement increased, Alamance County officially separated from Orange County in 1849. The county played a crucial role in early American history, including the Regulator Movement of the 1760s, a precursor to the American Revolution. During the Civil War, the region was home to textile mills that contributed to North Carolina’s industrial development.
Local History
Did You Know?
- Alamance County was the site of the Battle of Alamance in 1771, a key conflict between colonial militia and the Regulators, who opposed excessive taxation. - The name *Alamance* is believed to derive from
More ways to explore and share local history
Research Guidance
Keep publication context with a finding
A family name, a familiar street or a story passed down through generations can lead to a closer look at the history of Burlington. The digital archive shared by the Alamance County Public Library offers a place to begin. When using historical newspapers, try alternate spellings and nearby dates, then read the surrounding page to place a local story in its time. Compare later reporting or another available title to explore different perspectives rather than treating one account as the whole story. Note the newspaper title, issue date, and page for a useful report. Compare another account where available, and keep differences in timing or perspective visible rather than blending them into a single version.
Save the newspaper title, issue date, and page, then compare another dated account where available. Keep differences in timing and perspective visible so the source context is not lost. If the accounts disagree, record what each source supports and use the difference to shape a further search rather than smoothing them into one version.
A research trail is most useful when it leaves room for what is not yet known. Record the title, date, and page or item reference where available, along with what remains uncertain and which question you want to follow next. Those details help keep a possible connection from becoming an unsupported conclusion.
Community Partnership
Keeping local history a community resource
This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Alamance County Public Library, its community, and Advantage Archives. Together, these partnerships preserve local sources and give people a way to explore, learn from, and share the history around them.
Advantage Archives covers ongoing archive hosting, storage, development, and maintenance. The institution and its community do not pay a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or other recurring archive-service charge. Local history remains a community resource, not a subscription to maintain.
Would you like to see more of your community's history preserved and accessible? Start a conversation with your library, newspaper publisher, historical or genealogical society, museum, or school about the materials they would like to share and a possible partnership with Advantage Archives.
Learn about partnerships
Stories, research tips, and archive news
Read All About It connects archive research with the people and institutions preserving local history. Explore partner and community stories, project updates, research ideas, and perspectives on digitization, education, and working with primary sources. Use the articles as a starting point for your next question or a new way to share a discovery.
May 7, 2025
Why Microfilm is still important in 2023
Preserving documents on microfilm has been a popular method of storage for many years, and it still holds many benefits today. Here…
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May 7, 2025
Don’t Search For An Obituary By Only Searching For An “Obituary”
In the quest to trace our roots and understand our heritage, obituaries often serve as a crucial starting point. Obituaries are undoubtedly…
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April 9, 2025
Unveiling the Hidden Mysteries: Exploring Cold Cases and Unconventional Clues
Even the most esteemed police forces in the county encounter perplexing cold case files. These unsolved mysteries often leave investigators and genealogists…
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April 1, 2025
This Week in History: March 31st through April 6th
Discover History in The Community History Archives. This week in history, there is absolutely nothing to talk about… April Fools! April…
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March 24, 2025
This Week in History: March 24th through March 30th
Discover History in The Community History Archives. It has officially been a year since I started writing This Week in History,…
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March 18, 2025
It’s Your Community’s History, So Why Rent Something You Own?
We believe that history belongs to the communities where it was made - not locked behind paywalls or inaccessible due to budget restrictions. Subscription-based services and large content aggregators are generally more concerned with "content" and less concerned with the history that content contains. Their models typically involve a reoccurring charge for a plan that renews annually or licensing agreements with the library based on population served or circulation numbers. You are essentially Renting Access To YOUR History.
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