Founded by John T. Pearce[1] in 1877, the Bee has been published continuously by the Smith family.

In 1991 architect Roger P. Ferris of Southport, Connecticut designed a new printing plant for Bee Publishing,.

The building has a fieldstone base and cedar shingle walls and roof designed to fit in with Newtown's historic look.

[3] On April 2, 2020, publisher R. Scudder Smith announced that the newspaper would suspend print publications temporarily in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to protect its employees.

Online publication would continue with a reduced staff.