[2][3] The People's Press was founded on September 2, 1874 by Benjamin E. Darby as a weekly four-page paper.

[5] The paper was expanded to ten pages of news and advertising in 1900 when railroad lines began intersecting Owatonna.

In 1938, Darby bought and consolidated the Steele County pioneer weekly Owatonna Journal-Chronicle to the Press.

In 1969, the name of the paper was officially changed to the Owatonna People's Press.

Once a morning daily, the People's Press reduced its frequency to four days a week in February 2021, and transitioned to an afternoon delivery schedule and regionalized coverage.