Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Library of Congress site allows searching and viewing newspaper pages from 1880-1910 and information about American newspapers published since 1690.
subcat under 'Magazines, Newspapers, & Online News Services'
Select NYT Archive 1851-1980 or NYT Archive since 1981 from the drop down search box.
Over 500,000 pages of California newspapers spanning the years 1846 to the present. Site is under development and more newspapers are forthcoming. Includes the Daily Alta California, 1849-1891 and Los Angeles Herald, 1873-1910.
If you can't find a newspaper at the library, maybe you can find an online copy of it here.