The Evening Express's first issue was printed on Thursday, October 12, 1882, by Arthur Laughlin, who was 28 years old at the time.

In the first issue, Laughlin proclaimed; "With this, the first number of the Portland Evening Express, we present to the public a new penny daily evening paper, whose aim will be to give all the local news of the day up to 3 o'clock P.M." By 1889, the Express boasted the highest daily circulation in the city.

Dow oversaw numerous technical improvements to the paper and initiated an expansion that included the purchase of competing newspaper The Daily Advertiser in 1910.

Dow sold the Evening Express and Maine Sunday Telegram to Guy P. Gannett in 1925.

The final issue of the Evening Express appeared Friday, February 1, 1991, with the headline "Goodbye", ending its 108-year run.