Nevada’s best-known early paper, the Territorial Enterprise, was founded in 1858, and a young Mark Twain wrote for it. The Nevada State Library and Archives lists its online historic newspapers in one place.
Nevada obituaries in historic newspapers
The Territorial Enterprise began in Genoa in 1858, when Nevada was part of Utah Territory, and moved to Virginia City during the Comstock silver boom. Samuel Clemens first signed his name as Mark Twain while working there. Comstock papers recorded deaths in mine fires and accidents, along with gunfights and epidemics.
Boom towns such as Austin, Eureka, Tonopah, Goldfield and Ely each had papers during their mining rushes, and many disappeared when the mines closed. Reno and Las Vegas became the state’s main newspaper towns in the 1900s.
Nevada has no single statewide digital newspaper site. Many papers are on Chronicling America through a project led by UNLV with the Nevada State Library and Archives and the University of Nevada, Reno. Washoe County Library keeps an index of Reno obituaries from 1962 to 2007.
Where to find Nevada obituaries
Digitized Nevada newspapers
- Online Newspapers, Nevada State Library and Archives — The state library’s list of historic Nevada newspapers available online.
Archives and libraries
- Nevada Newspapers on Microfilm, UNLV Libraries — UNLV’s Nevada newspaper microfilm holdings.
- Nevada State Library, Archives and Public Records — State archives and the library’s historic newspaper collection in Carson City.
- Nevada Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to Nevada newspaper archives, indexes and microfilm, with county-by-county links.
Nationwide newspaper archives
- Chronicling America, Library of Congress — Free digitized newspapers from every state. Narrow a search to Nevada and the years you need.
- Google News Archive — Free scans of hundreds of older newspapers, browsable by title and date.
- Internet Archive newspapers — Free digitized newspapers and microfilm uploaded by libraries.
- FamilySearch — Free obituary indexes, death records and the Social Security Death Index (free account).
- Find a Grave — Volunteer-built cemetery memorials, many with transcribed obituaries.
- Newspapers.com — Large subscription archive of U.S. papers. Many public libraries offer free access.
- GenealogyBank — Subscription archive of historic newspapers and modern obituaries.
- Legacy.com — Obituaries published since about 2000 in most U.S. daily newspapers.
Tips for finding an obituary in Nevada
- Pin down the date and place first. A death index or death certificate gives the exact date and county, and then you only need to search the local papers for the following week or two.
- Search more than one town. Obituaries often ran in the paper where the person was born or had lived before, not just where they died. Small-town weeklies sometimes published a notice weeks later.
- Look beyond the word “obituary.” Older papers reported deaths under headings like “Died,” “Deaths,” local news and personals columns, funeral notices and cards of thanks. See death notices vs. obituaries.
- Try every spelling. Search initials, nicknames and misspellings, and for married women in older papers, search the husband’s name (“Mrs. John Smith”). Digitized text often misreads old type.
- Ask a librarian. Many public libraries and state archives will look up an obituary for free or a small fee, and newspaper microfilm can often be borrowed through interlibrary loan.