The name is derived from the Greek words "panta" and "grapho," which has a combined meaning of "write all things.

[6] W. O. Davis and his heirs owned the Pantagraph for many years until selling the paper to Chronicle Publishing Company in 1980.

[8] The paper was originally called The Bloomington Observer and McLean County Advocate.

[6][9] From 1935 to 2018, the newspaper operated from a 65,000-square-foot building at 301 W. Washington St.[10][11] Then-Publisher Julie Bechtel announced in November 2017 that the business would move two blocks east to a new home at 205 N. Main St., just across from the McLean County Museum of History in the heart of downtown Bloomington.

[5] The Pantagraph was a news partner of WEEK-TV, which is situated in East Peoria, Illinois.