Are there any resources available to search or read through newspapers from the colonial era in North America? I remember there being a map based website shared on Reddit that broke tons of archives down based by city. I can't seem to find it though and I'm not sure how helpful it'd be.
I believe you're thinking of the Chronicling America project from the Library of Congress. That's the most browsable free one out there. There's a few more subscription library products that I can point you to, but if you're looking for free things, I think that's your best bet. If you're looking for a particular title I can also help you find that if you need, the LoC's Newspaper Directory (the lavender button to the right on that page) is also pretty robust.