It was built in 1894 as offices and the printing facility for the Somerville Journal,[2] a weekly publication that continues to exist as part of the "Wicked Local" franchise of GateHouse Media.

The building, a somewhat typical example of late 19th-century commercial architecture, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

[1] The Journal Building is set on the west side of Walnut Street, near its southern end in Union Square.

It is a two-story brick structure, with a single storefront on the ground floor that has plate glass windows flanking a recessed entrance.

A corbelled cornice is set below the roof, and a brownstone stringcourse separates the basement from the ground floor.