Fulton Journal Index
Thanks to our beloved and dearly missed Fultonian Nancy Kolk, you may access, read, and search through a PDF index of Fulton newspapers dating as far back as 1854. We are indebted to her effort of manually transferring this valuable community asset from microfilm to digital data which will allow for quicker research.
In 2017, Harvey Geerts took up the mantle, continuing the important work of indexing unfinished and recent issues of the Journal. We are very grateful for his time and effort.
Remember, this is just an index, or outline; the papers are available for viewing in full at the library using our microfilm viewer.
The following links present a PDF file.
ful papers reel 1-9 (1854-1900+)– Includes the Whiteside Investigator, Fulton City Advertiser, Fulton Weekly Courier, Fulton Weekly Journal, The Fulton Weekly Journal, Fulton Register (1892 – 1899), Fulton Journal with dates ranging from March 15, 1854 to July 31, 1900.
Reel #3: Fulton Journal March 2, 1877-December 25, 1879 has now been digitized by the Illinois Newspaper Project. You can view the digitized issues here: https://www.loc.gov/item/sn92053304/ Click on Browse Digitized Issues to view the calendar of issues available. Issues range from 1877-1879.
ful papers reels 10-19 (1900-1926)– Fulton Journal ranging from Aug. 3, 1900 to Nov. 5, 1926 and also Dec. 13 of 1932, and June 18 and Jan. 29 of 1937.
ful papers reels 20-32 (1926-1955)Reel # 33 December 22, 1955 – Sept. 19, 1957 Reel # 34 September 26, 1957-Sept. 3, 1959 Reel # 35 September 10, 1959-March 15, 1961 Reel # 36 March 22, 1961-Dec. 26, 1962 Reel # 37 January 2, 1963-Dec. 23, 1964 Reel # 38 January 6, 1965-Dec. 28, 1966 Reel # 39 January 4, 1967-December 25, 1968 Reel # 40 January 1, 1969-December 30, 1970 Reel # 41 January 6, 1971-December 27, 1972 Reel # 42 January 3, 1973-December 26, 1973 Reel # 43 January 2, 1974-December 25, 1974 Reel # 44 January 1, 1975-December 29, 1976 Reel # 45 January 5, 1977-December 28, 1977Reel # 46 January 4, 1978-December 27, 1978Reel # 47 January 3, 1979-December 26, 1979Reel # 48 January 2, 1980-December 31, 1980Reel # 49 1981 January 7-December 30 Reel # 50 1982Reel # 51 Jan. 5, 1983-Dec. 28, 1983 Reel # 52 1984 Reel # 53 1985 Reel # 54 1986 Reel # 55 1987 January 7-December 30 Reel # 56 1988 Reel # 57 1989 January 4-December 27From the work of Harvey Geerts:
ful papers reels 58-67 (1990-1999)ful papers reels 68-78 (2000-2009)ful papers reels 79 (2010 -Mar. 15, 2017)This is the extent of the work done at this time. We will update this list as the indices become available. All issues after the most recent date listed are still available in their physical form (they just haven’t been indexed) . Microfilm issues are acquired from the Illinois State Library when they have been microfilmed and made available for purchase.
And if you are wondering, “What’s up with this Microfilm stuff? Isn’t that a little outdated given today’s technology?”; then please consider this argument from the National Archives:
“Microfilm is a low-cost, reliable, long-term, standardized image storage medium. The equipment needed to view microfilm images is simple, consisting of light and magnification. The medium has a life-expectancy of hundreds of years. Digital images, on the other hand, consist of a wide variety of machine codes that require computer hardware and software to be made visible. To avoid the obsolescence of changing computer technology, digital images must be reformatted periodically. The cost of maintaining microfilm is small compared with that of digital images. Microfilm only needs shelving in a cool, dry place for a very long period of time.”from http://www.archives.gov/preservation/formats/microfilming.html