The Digital Support Services and Conservation and Preservation departments of the George A. Smathers Libraries announce the addition of an extensive run of the Levy County Journal (1928-2016) to the Florida Digital Newspaper Library (FDNL) (https://ufdc.ufl.edu/fdnl1). Thanks to a generous donation of papers by the family of the paper’s late publisher, Andy Andrews (1943-2016), and with financial support by Drummond Community Bank in Chiefland, Florida, the libraries were able to have 2,860 issues digitized and they are now available for viewing at http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00028309.
The Levy County Journal is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Levy County, Florida. Founded in 1928, the paper served as the “paper of record” for the county, publishing legal notices and other official information. The locally owned paper chronicled daily life in the communities it served. The paper ceased publication on May 26, 2016.
The addition of this title represents the first phase of a larger project, also supported by Drummond Community Bank, to create a complete online collection of historic Levy County newspapers housed in the University of Florida Digital Collections. Additional titles to be added include The Gulf Coast News, Levy County News, Levy Times-Democrat, the Williston Progress, and The Cedar Key Gulf-Coaster. Current and recent issues of the Chiefland Citizen, The Cedar Key Beacon, and the Williston Pioneer Sun News are also available in the FDNL.