In 1858, Dr William H. Oliver, who had written for and edited a number of periodicals in the early 1800s, established a weekly newspaper called The Erie News in Simcoe.

[1] After publishing for three years, the newspaper was sold to William Buckingham in 1861, who renamed it The Norfolk Reformer.

Buckingham edited the paper for 18 months under the motto, "The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance".

[1][2] In 1922, the Norfolk Reformer and another newspaper, The Simcoe British Canadian, were purchased by the Pearce Publishing Company, which amalgamated them to create The Simcoe Reformer.

Issues in the 1980s and 1990s had an entire page dedicated to classic comic strips like Motley's Crew, Between Friends and For Better or For Worse.