On May 15, 2019, Utah Digital Newspapers reached a new milestone. The three-millionth newspaper page was added!

Appropriately, the newspaper that put us over the top marks another accomplishment. In one of the largest digitization efforts in the history of Marriott Library, one hundred years of The Provo Herald is now available online, starting with 1909 and ending with 2009.

A primary advantage of digitization is that every page of every issue is keyword-searchable—a feature that cannot be replicated in print or on microfilm. Those with Utah County roots will surely want to dig in and explore this exciting new resource.

THE PROVO HERALD makes its initial bow today and we trust that you will be pleased with it…The dropping of the “Utah County” does not signify that the Herald will not give attention to the news of the county. The people will be given all the news that is news, in the Herald.

 The Provo Herald, January 2, 1909, p. 2

The first issue of the Herald, printed on January 2, 1909, is labeled Volume 12, Number 1. But wait. Didn’t the Herald just get started? Yes, but, its elder brother, the Utah County Democrat, had been issuing from the same office since 1898. The politically volatile 1890s saw surprising strength for the Democratic Party in Utah. In the first presidential election after statehood, William Jennings Bryan won 80% of the vote.

When the paper changed ownership at the end of 1908, its political stripes morphed, too. The newly-christened Herald gave up its Democratic affiliation and became politically independent.

The Herald published three times a week until 1921, when it ramped up to five days a week. The fat, 18-page Sunday edition appeared in 1922 and ran for 50 years. The daily edition started in 1939 and continues publishing today.