THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE, 1736-1780

The Virginia Gazette was the first newspaper published in Virginia and the first to be published in the area south of the Potomac River in the colonial period of the United States. Issues have the following subtitle: "Containing the freshest advices, foreign and domestick".

Published weekly in Williamsburg, VA between 1736 and 1780, The Virginia Gazette contained news covering all of Virginia and also included information from other colonies, Scotland, England and additional countries.  The paper appeared in several iterations from a succession of publishers over the years, the first of whom was William Parks who published the first four-page edition on August 6, 1736. Three years earlier, he had founded The Maryland Gazette in Annapolis. In 1743, Parks built a paper mill in Williamsburg and purchased the raw material to create newsprint from Benjamin Franklin. The paper ceased publication sometime after the death of William Parks, which occurred on April 1, 1750. William Hunter later reestablished the paper under the same title in January 1751.

As Williamsburg was the center of growing tensions in the Virginia Colony which led to the American Revolution, the newspaper was one of the centers of activity in the capital of Virginia, and dutifully published accounts. When at the urging of Gov. Thomas Jefferson the capital was relocated to Richmond in 1780, the newspaper followed. The final issue of The Virginia Gazette produced in Williamsburg was April 8, 1780.

The date ranges for the publishers of The Virginia Gazette are:
    William Parks 1736-50
    William Hunter 1751-61
    Joseph Royle 1761-65
    Alexander Purdie & Co. 1765-66
    Alex. Purdie & John Dixon 1766-75
    William Rind 1766-73
    Clemintina Rind 1773-74
    John Pinkney 1774-76
    Alex. Purdie 1775-79
    John Dixon & William Hunter Jr. 1775-78
    John Dixon & Thomas Nicolson 1779-Apr., 1780
    John Clarkson & Augustine Davis 1779-Dec., 1780

Not all the issues survived. Those available were assembled and microfilmed in 1950, and a subject index was created at the same time. This microfilm was the basis for the current image version. Several institutions contributed issues for the initial microfilming and are cooperating in the production of the current project:

College of William and Mary; Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; The Johns Hopkins University; Maryland Historical Society; Massachusetts Historical Society; Virginia Historical Society.

Part I: 1736-1745
Part II: 1746-1755
Part III: 1756-1765
Part IV: 1766-1775
Part V: 1776-1780