San Francisco Chronicle Archives

If you know someone who is an avid reader of the publication serving the Bay Area, then searching our San Francisco Chronicle historical archives will help you find an original newspaper to make a fascinating gift. Whether it’s a special birthday or an anniversary, you can select a date that’s memorable to you or a loved one and discover what events made headline news at the time. Our San Francisco Chronicle back issues make sentimental gifts for any occasion that won’t ever be forgotten, and we have thousands of back issues to choose from!

Search our archive of original old newspapers

Let our archivist don their specs and rifle through the stacks, to retrieve the exact newspaper you’re after.

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Month

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FROM $39.99

San Francisco Chronicle Newspapers

The San Francisco Chronicle serves primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California and publishes daily. Founded in 1865 as the Daily Dramatic Chronicle by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young, the newspaper is now owned by the Hearst Corporation who bought the newspaper from the de Young family in 2000. The San Francisco Chronicle is the only daily newspaper covering the city and county of San Francisco.

Our passion for history shows

3 million old newspapers in the archive.

100s of newspaper titles.

Authentic, original papers. Not copies.

History in your hands

Ships within days of ordering

Add a presentation gift box

A gift they won’t be expecting

Forget flowers. Sidestep the sock aisle. An original newspaper to commemorate a date from your recipient’s past is a memory that’ll last.

EXPERTLY PRESENTED

CHOOSE a deluxe gift box to protect this incredible gift for years to come.

Original newspaper UX test - Historic Newspapers

PRESERVED IN THE WORLD’S LARGEST PRIVATE ARCHIVE

Your newspaper will come from the echoing halls of the Historic Newspapers archive in Western Scotland, overseen by our team of ten archivists.

SELECTED AND RESTORED BY HAND

After you make your order, an archivist examines your paper, page by page. The paper is pressed flat and any flaws are rectified with archival repair tape.

PERSONALISED, PRESENTED AND DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR

Choose a gift box, and if you wish, add a bottle of the recipient’s favourite drink. However you choose to personalise your gift, it’ll be delivered within five days.

insights from our archivist

These aren’t replicas. They’re the actual newspapers that sat on newsstands up to 125 years ago. The one you buy could be the last copy in existence.

Prices can vary for several reasons, like popularity of a specific day, whether the paper is local or national, the paper’s age, and the number of copies left.

Missing papers give us a window into history. If a paper isn’t available for the date you’re after, it could be because that newspaper was on strike during the period.

FLYING OFF THE NEWSSTANDS

Bestsellers leave public ‘clamouring for copies’, reports suggest.