Guide
Overview
The Portland Press Herald is Maine's largest newspaper by circulation and shares ownership with the Sun Journal in Lewiston, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville, the Times Record in Brunswick and a group of weeklies, all now held by the nonprofit Maine Trust for Local News. The Bangor Daily News covers eastern and northern Maine independently, and the Ellsworth American, the Mount Desert Islander, the Free Press in Rockland and the Aroostook Republican cover the coast and the County.
Maine newspapers carry the legal notices state law requires for foreclosures, probate and municipal actions, publish obituaries for 16 counties, and hold court coverage that fills gaps left by Maine's limited online court records.
Official sources on this page were checked on September 25, 2026.
Guide
Maine Newspapers
Find local and statewide newspaper publications for Maine. Access news, sports, classified, entertainment, and archived articles.
Guide
Major Maine newspapers and what they cover
The Press Herald covers Portland, Cumberland County, the State House through its Augusta bureau and the federal court in Portland, with back issues from the 1860s onward in the digital archives. The Bangor Daily News covers Penobscot County, the University of Maine and the northern half of the state, and its digital archive is deep. The Kennebec Journal covers the capital and state agencies, the Sun Journal covers Androscoggin County and the western mountains, and the coastal weeklies carry select board minutes, police logs and probate notices from Maine's registers of probate.
Guide
Historic Maine newspapers online
The Maine State Library in Augusta holds newspaper microfilm for the whole state and coordinates the Maine Digital Newspaper Project, which contributes historic titles to Chronicling America. Digital Maine, the state's online archive, carries selected newspapers, and the Portland Public Library provides free access to the Press Herald archive with a library card. The Bangor Public Library holds the Bangor Daily News on microfilm and an obituary index, and the Maine Historical Society in Portland holds early Portland titles.
Guide
Legal notices, public notices and obituaries in Maine
Maine law requires foreclosure sale notices, probate notices from the registers of probate, name changes, tax lien notices and municipal warrants and ordinances to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, and the Maine Press Association collects them in a statewide search. Obituaries run in the Press Herald, the Bangor Daily News and the regional papers, and the Maine State Library and the Bangor Public Library keep obituary indexes. Court coverage matters in Maine because most court records are available only at the courthouse or through the judicial branch's limited public case search.
Guide
Browse Newspapers by State
Straight answers
Maine Newspaper Directory, questions
What is Maine's largest newspaper by circulation?
The Portland Press Herald, now owned by the nonprofit Maine Trust for Local News along with the Sun Journal, the Kennebec Journal and the Morning Sentinel. The Bangor Daily News covers eastern and northern Maine.
Where are historic Maine newspapers online?
Chronicling America carries Maine titles through the Maine Digital Newspaper Project, Digital Maine adds selected papers, and the Maine State Library holds the rest on microfilm.
Where are Maine probate notices published?
In a newspaper of general circulation in the county, and the Maine Press Association's statewide public notice search collects them with foreclosure and municipal notices.