[1] The Progress is owned by Athens, Georgia-based Community Newspapers, Inc., which also operates the Cherokee Scout in Murphy, the Graham Star in Robbinsville, and the Smoky Mountain Times in Bryson City, amongst other publications in the southeastern United States.

Subsequent editors included Alvin Penland (1937-1938), Eula Gray (1938-1939), and Lucille Padgett (1939-1942).

L. E. Hollifield, Jr., bought the newspaper in March 1942 and then sold publishing rights to Cross Printing Co., of Clayton, Georgia, by October 1942.

The Sentinel had a circulation of 4,000 when it shut down due to the publisher falling ill.[9][10] Since it closed, the Progress has been the only newspaper in Clay County.

In the 1980s, The Progress was headquartered on the town square at 57 Main Street before moving to Moore's Plaza on Business Highway 64.

[12] The Progress has sponsored Clay County's annual Christmas parade since its inception in 1987.