43Titles
Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Fort Smith Public Library
Fort Smith, Arkansas
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Fort Smith.
1848 to 2026Dates represented
See individual titles for available dates.
2,025,764Archive pages
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Get to know Fort Smith, Arkansas in earlier years through the newspapers shared in the Fort Smith Public Library's digital archive. Its forty-three titles include material from 1848 to 2026.
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Selected titles
In the collection shared by Fort Smith Public Library, you will find “Arkansas Developer” and “Wheelers Western Independent”.
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Free and open access
No subscription or payment required.
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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 forty-three titles and 2,025,764 digitized pages, with material from 1848 to 2026. A partnership between Fort Smith 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.
Arkansas Developer
8 pages in 1894
Belle Grove School Journal
16 pages in 1872
Daily News Record
548 pages from 1894 to 1895
Daily Southwest American
16 pages in 1911
Entertainment Fort Smith
14,220 pages from 2013 to 2022
Evening Call
288 pages in 1891
Fort Smith Bulletin
40 pages in 1862
Fort Smith Daily Herald
2,736 pages from 1877 to 1879
Fort Smith Daily Time and Herald
444 pages in 1861
Fort Smith Elevator
18,168 pages from 1878 to 1909
Fort Smith Enterprise
8 pages in 1895
Fort Smith Herald
3,680 pages from 1848 to 1881
Fort Smith Herald and New Elevator
2,418 pages from 1912 to 1915
Fort Smith New Era
1,318 pages from 1863 to 1870
Fort Smith News Record
50,658 pages from 1896 to 1907
Fort Smith Southwest American
19,762 pages from 1908 to 1911
Fort Smith Standard
8 pages in 1867
Fort Smith Times Record
17,328 pages from 1924 to 1968
Fort Smith Tri Weekly Bulletin
52 pages in 1862
Fort Smith Tri Weekly Herald
402 pages from 1865 to 1866
Fort Smith Weekly Herald
2,854 pages from 1867 to 1879
Fort Smith Weekly New Era
1,684 pages from 1865 to 1874
Fortnightly Club Papers
9,030 pages in 1888
New Southwest Times Record
20,176 pages from 2023 to 2024
News Record
56 pages in 1894
Ouachita Conference Journal
8 pages in 1863
South West Independent
4 pages in 1854
Southwest American
578,672 pages from 1908 to 1969
Southwest American
2,502 pages in 1969
Southwest American And Fort Smith Times Record
2,628 pages from 1943 to 1969
Southwest Times Record
104,238 pages from 1969 to 1973
Southwest Times Record
972,682 pages from 1923 to 2025
Sun
24 pages in 1898
The Lincoln Echo
7,498 pages from 1993 to 2018
Thirty Fifth Parallel
36 pages from 1860 to 1861
Times Record
184,380 pages from 2013 to 2026
Tri Weekly Fort Smith Herald
1,578 pages from 1870 to 1872
War Times
8 pages in 1863
Weekly New Era
1,796 pages from 1880 to 1884
Western Independent
972 pages from 1872 to 1877
Wheelers Daily Independent
8 pages in 1879
Wheelers Independent
2,232 pages from 1878 to 1883
Wheelers Western Independent
580 pages in 1878
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About the Library
About The Fort Smith Public Library
The Fort Smith Public Library is committed to providing equal access to information and resources for the community. As an educational resource, it hosts a variety of programs, workshops, and events designed to engage residents of all ages. The library serves as a vital outreach tool, promoting lifelong learning and cultural enrichment. It offers various multimedia materials, including books, digital archives, and community programs, ensuring that residents can connect with their local history and culture. Through strategic partnerships with local organizations, the library aims to enhance accessibility and deliver a shared responsibility towards preserving the collective history of Fort Smith.
Library History
The History Of The Fort Smith Public Library
The Fort Smith Public Library was established in 1893 and has evolved significantly over the decades to meet the changing needs of the community. Originally founded as a subscription library, it transitioned into a free public library in 1907, making education and information accessible to all residents. Throughout its history, the library has undergone numerous renovations and expansions, continually enhancing its facilities and services. Today, it stands as a cultural asset, providing a portal to the community’s past through its extensive archival collections and digital resources. The library remains dedicated to preserving local history while fostering community engagement and educational growth.
About the Community
About The Fort Smith, Arkansas
Fort Smith, Arkansas, is rich in history and serves as a pivotal location in the southwestern United States. Established in 1817, it was originally a military post and has since transformed into a vibrant city known for its diverse heritage and cultural significance. Fort Smith played a crucial role in the westward expansion of the United States and is recognized for its contributions to commerce, law, and local governance. The city’s rich tapestry of stories includes influences from Native American tribes, pioneers, and settlers, all of whom contributed to its growth. Today, Fort Smith continues to celebrate its heritage through various historical sites, museums, and community events.
Local History
Did You Know?
The Fort Smith Public Library houses a collection of historical newspapers dating back to 1848, providing a unique insight into local events and perspectives as they unfolded. This archival resource allows residents to explore their community's past, reflecting on the “first rough draft of history” as recorded by those who lived it. Additionally, the library hosts regular workshops focused on genealogy, helping individuals connect with their ancestors and uncover their family stories through primary sources.
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 Smith. It might be a person, a neighborhood or an event remembered in your family. Use the digital archive shared by the Fort Smith 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.
Community Partnership
Keeping local history a community resource
This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Fort Smith 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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