Collaborations, when they go smoothly, make me happy. This one took years, several organizations, a few grants, thousands of feet of microfilm, and a handful of determined local historians. But Grand County’s history, dating back to 1882, is now easier than ever to explore.

Years ago, Grand County Library District (GCLD) volunteers Kathy Naples, Dede Fay, and Heidi McNinch began inventorying rolls of historic newspaper microfilm. Then COVID-19 arrived, the committee dispersed, and the project went quiet.

Fortunately, local historian and fifth-generation Grand County resident Donald Dailey did not.

Dailey was vigilant about reminding us how important it was to preserve Grand County’s sometimes-wild Wild West history. GCLD purchased a microfilm reader that could copy and email articles. It was progress, but researchers still had to visit one library and patiently scroll through roll after roll of miniature newspaper images.

Patience is a virtue. It is not, however, a particularly effective search engine.

Former GCLD Executive Director, Polly Gallagher, helped move us toward a better solution: digitization. Suddenly, we could imagine historic newspapers available to anyone with internet access, 24/7.

The project became a true community collaboration. Leigh Jeremias of the Colorado State Library assisted with digitization efforts, while Shanna Ganne of the Grand County Historical Association, Nicole Miller of Sky-Hi News, GCLD Board President Jeremy Krones, and Yours truly formed a new committee. The GCLD Board gave the project a unanimous green light, Grand Lake Rotary pledged thousands of dollars, and the Grand Lake Historical Society carefully shared original newspapers dating to the 1880s.

Inventories were compared. Grants were pursued. And October 2026, once seemingly far away, arrived.

Now we get to celebrate.

The Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC) opens a remarkable window into Grand County life. More than 9,400 local newspaper issues are available to explore, including the Grand Lake Prospector beginning in 1882, decades of the Sky-Hi News and Middle Park Times, the Fraser Times, Winter Park Manifest, and many more.

These papers aren’t simply old news. They are us.

Colleague Amy Chamberlin has used historic newspapers to research her great-grandfather, Grand Lake’s Lady of the Lake, and communities that existed before Lake Granby and Shadow Mountain Lake. Her son Carter’s curiosity about Colorado’s “ghost ski resorts” offers another perfect use.

Dailey may qualify as CHNC’s No. 1 fan. Asked whether he prefers microfilm or CHNC, he immediately championed the online collection. His favorite discovery? It was difficult to choose from his top ten, but he settled on two Grand Lake Prospector issues, Thompson’s Billiard Hall advertisement in the November 2, 1882, issue and Ute Bill’s Saloon from August 22, 1885.

Then there are the unexpected finds. While completing the 2026 summer library program activity log, Brynlie Vrbas from Kremmling searched the collection and discovered a newspaper photo of her dad winning “Muck Mania” during the 1994 summer reading program.

History had come full circle.

That’s why digitization matters. Newspapers preserve enormous events like the East Troublesome Fire and the 2004 Granby bulldozer incident alongside celebrations, local legends, businesses, families, and ordinary people having unexpectedly memorable days.

Now anyone with internet access can search, enlarge, clip, save, and share these pieces of Grand County history.

For once, technology has made something less complicated. That alone may be historically significant.

But the real reason to celebrate is simpler: Grand County’s stories belong to all of us. Now they’re easier for all of us to (re-) discover. When you are ready to explore, visit our website at http://www.gcld.org/newspapers and select Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection.

Tallie Gray is the Grand County Library District director of library resources. Contact her at: tgray@gcld.org