Skip to content
Community History Archives

Community History Archive Partner

Fort Dodge Public Library

Fort Dodge, Iowa

Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Fort Dodge.

Explore the Archive Institution Website
55Titles

Explore publications and collections from the past.

1856 to 1934Dates represented

See individual titles for available dates.

319,530Archive pages

Historical pages reported for this collection.

Explore local history

Discover the people, places, and stories of Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Get to know Fort Dodge, Iowa in earlier years through the newspapers shared in the Fort Dodge Public Library's digital archive. Its fifty-five titles include material from 1856 to 1934.

You can open the archive using the link below.
Partner image, not an archive preview
 Explore the Archive

Opens in a new tab.

  • Selected titles

    In the collection shared by Fort Dodge Public Library, you will find “Daily Chronicle” and “Weekly Messenger”.

  • Free and open access

    No subscription or payment required.

  • A closer look

    A familiar name or event takes on another dimension in the newspaper coverage of its time, alongside the stories that mattered to the readers of that issue.

Historical newspapers can connect a family name with the events and everyday concerns of an earlier time, offering more than a date or a name on its own. Bring a family connection, a question about a familiar place or an interest in local history, and see where the sources lead. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.

Explore the collection

Titles in this collection

Browse fifty-five titles and 319,530 digitized pages, with material from 1856 to 1934. A partnership between Fort Dodge Public Library and Advantage Archives makes this collection available. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.

If you are tracing a family connection or exploring local history, the titles below offer a place to begin and a thread to follow.

Daily Chronicle

12,868 pages from 1884 to 1890

Dayton Weekly Review

2,852 pages from 1880 to 1884

Evening Messenger

37,460 pages from 1888 to 1902

Fort Dodge City Directory

586 pages in 1908

Fort Dodge Daily Chonicle

22,136 pages from 1893 to 1912

Fort Dodge Daily Messenger

2,424 pages from 1873 to 1887

Fort Dodge Daily Times

8 pages in 1882

Fort Dodge Democrat

104 pages from 1861 to 1862

Fort Dodge Messenger

103,828 pages from 1872 to 1917

Fort Dodge Semi - Weekly Chronicle

17,304 pages from 1896 to 1909

Fort Dodge Semi - Weekly Times

5,534 pages from 1873 to 1876

Fort Dodge Sentinel

742 pages from 1856 to 1860

Fort Dodge The Weekly Times

416 pages in 1874

Fort Dodge Times

11,132 pages from 1868 to 1899

Fort Dodge Weekly Chronicle

4,786 pages from 1893 to 1911

Gazette And Messenger

8 pages in 1879

Greenville Times

16 pages in 1900

Harcourt News

1,316 pages from 1895 to 1919

Iowa North West

4,102 pages from 1864 to 1871

Iowa Real Estate Register

16 pages in 1872

Lehigh Valley Argus

14,588 pages from 1900 to 1922

Northwest Chronicle

3,486 pages from 1883 to 1891

Republican Extra

6 pages from 1861 to 1862

Saturday Evening Messenger

652 pages from 1886 to 1887

Saturday Evening Post

834 pages from 1892 to 1893

Saturday Messenger

592 pages from 1886 to 1887

Semi Weekly Messenger

7,902 pages from 1904 to 1909

Service Press

12 pages in 1923

The Badger Herald

48 pages in 1893

The Barnum Booster

2 pages in 1923

The Callender Call

14 pages in 1923

The Callender News

914 pages from 1915 to 1919

The Callender Press

10 pages in 1893

The Callender Times

64 pages from 1896 to 1908

The Clare Clipper

18 pages in 1923

The Clare Record

44 pages in 1893

The Dayton Review

32,084 pages from 1885 to 1922

The Duncombe Dispatch

16 pages in 1923

The Duncombe News

20 pages in 1893

The Fort Dodge Methodist

16 pages in 1879

The Fort Dodge Post

44 pages from 1897 to 1899

The Fort Dodge Republican

1,266 pages from 1860 to 1864

The Gowrie News

25,878 pages from 1889 to 1922

The Harcourt And Callender News

12 pages in 1919

The Lanyon And Harcourt News

8 pages in 1918

The Lanyon News

332 pages from 1915 to 1919

The Messenger Junior

16 pages in 1903

The Moorland Monitor

8 pages in 1923

The Otho Argus

554 pages from 1914 to 1919

The Real News

10 pages from 1923 to 1934

The Somers Sun

10 pages in 1923

Tribune

8 pages in 1901

Webster County Gazette

1,512 pages from 1877 to 1880

Webster County Gazette And Fort Dodge Messenger

324 pages in 1877

Weekly Messenger

588 pages in 1903

Explore the Archive (opens in a new tab)

Opens in a new tab.

Partner Story

Content List

  • Fort Dodge Sentinel (1856-1860)
  • The Fort Dodge Republican (1860-1864)
  • Iowa North West (1864-1871)
  • Fort Dodge Times (1868-1899)
  • Northwest Chronicle (1883-1891)
  • Fort Dodge Daily Chonicle (1893-1912)
  • Fort Dodge Weekly Chronicle (1893-1911)
  • Fort Dodge Semi - Weekly Chronicle (1896-1909)
  • Daily Chronicle (1884-1890)
  • Evening Messenger (1888-1902)
  • Fort Dodge Messenger (1872-1917)
  • Semi Weekly Messenger (1904-1909)
  • Fort Dodge Semi - Weekly Times (1873-1876)
  • Fort Dodge Daily Messenger (1873-1887)
  • Webster County Gazette (1877-1880)
  • Fort Dodge Democrat (1861-1862)
  • Fort Dodge Messenger And Chronicle (1917-1924)
  • The Callender News (1915-1919)
  • The Gowrie News (1889-1922)
  • The Dayton Review (1885-1922)
  • Lehigh Valley Argus (1900-1922)
  • Fort Dodge The Weekly Times (1874-1874)
  • Saturday Evening Post (1892-1893)
  • Fort Dodge City Directory (1908-1908)
  • The Peoples Press (1878-1895)
  • The Harcourt News (1895-1919)
  • The Clare Record (1893-1893)
  • The Otho Argus (1914-1919)
  • The Fort Dodge Post (1893-1893)
  • The Lanyon News (1915-1919)
  • The Badger Herald (1893-1893)
  • The Clare Clipper (1923-1923)

About the Library

About The Fort Dodge Public Library

The Fort Dodge Public Library, located in Fort Dodge, Iowa, serves as a vital hub of knowledge, learning, and community engagement. Established in the late 19th century, the library has grown to become a cornerstone of the community, offering a wide range of services and programs for all ages. The library's mission is to connect the community with information, resources, and opportunities for lifelong learning.

Fort Dodge Public Library photo 1

Library History

The History Of The Fort Dodge Public Library

The Fort Dodge Public Library has a rich history, dating back to its early establishment in the late 19th century. Over the years, the library has continually adapted to meet the needs of its community. Significant expansions and improvements have allowed the library to grow its collection and services, becoming a hub for local history and genealogy research. The digitization of the library’s newspaper archives, funded by grants and community donations, has made these valuable resources accessible to everyone, preserving Fort Dodge's rich history for future generations.

About the Community

About Fort Dodge, Iowa

Fort Dodge, located in Webster County, Iowa, is a vibrant community with a rich history and a strong sense of community spirit. Established in the mid-19th century, Fort Dodge has grown from a small settlement into a thriving town known for its friendly atmosphere and community engagement. The town is home to several historic buildings and hosts annual events that celebrate its heritage. Fort Dodge’s commitment to preserving its history is evident in the extensive archives housed at the Fort Dodge Public Library, providing valuable resources for researchers and history enthusiasts.

More ways to explore and share local history

Research Guidance

Look for the story behind a result

Start with something you would like to understand about the past of Fort Dodge. It might be a person, a neighborhood or an event remembered in your family. Use the digital archive shared by the Fort Dodge Public Library to follow that question into the historical record. 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. Search a person, place, or event with a second term, then compare the date and context of each result. A repeated name needs more evidence before it identifies the same person or connects two parts of a story.

After recording the issue and page, search a second term tied to the result and compare the surrounding dates and accounts. Keep matching names provisional until the place and context fit. This can turn one result into a better question without turning a repeated name into a confirmed story.

Capture the title, date, and page or item location for a detail you may want to revisit. Label your interpretation as your reading, not the source's own words. Keep enough context with the note that another reader can retrace it.

Review collection titles

Community Partnership

Keeping local history a community resource

This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Fort Dodge 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
Read All About It

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.

Newest published articles

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.
Read article
Back to top