The oldest ancestor of the Journal Star, the Peoria Daily Transcript, was founded by N.C. Nason and first published on December 17, 1855.

[2][3][4] The Peoria Journal was founded as an afternoon paper by Eugene F. Baldwin the former editor of the Daily Transcript, and J. B.

[5] Henry Means Pindell started the Peoria Herald in 1889; he soon bought out the Daily Transcript, forming the Herald-Transcript.

[7] Between 1984 and 1990, the Journal Star Employee Stock Ownership Plan bought about 83 percent of the company, making it effectively employee-owned.

However, the success for the employees had the opposite effect for the company itself, as it had to buy back stock of large numbers of early retirees.