[2][3] The Globe was founded by Harlan P. Hall, founder of the Saint Paul Dispatch.

In 1876, a stock company purchased the Dispatch and it "transformed over night" from a Democratic newspaper into "an aggressive Republican organ".

When Hall founded the Globe in predominantly Democratic Saint Paul, the city council quickly voted to give the new newspaper its printing contract.

[2] In 1881, the newspaper was acquired by a joint stock company consisting of local businessmen and politicians.

In 1896, it was bought by railroad executive James J. Hill and became a mouthpiece for his business interests.