Staunton had two newspapers in the late 1850s, the Spectator and the Vindicator. The former was favorable to the Whig party; the latter to the Democrats. Both of them offered a mixture of international, national, and local news. We have indexed the papers so that you may search for any local person, organization, or event; we have indexed only those national events that touched directly on Augusta County and have not indexed international events at all.
You will notice that the papers of the 1850s were quite different from those of today, with no photographs and minimal headlines. They are full of fascinating history, but it will take some patience and close attention (and perhaps a little eyestrain) to uncover their riches.
To conduct a search for a particular person or subject, go to the newspaper search page by clicking here.
Click on the red
ball to return to the main Archive, from which you can continue
your search, begin a new search, or exit the Archive.