Owatonna People's Press

The Owatonna People's Press is a four-day daily newspaper serving Owatonna, Minnesota and surrounding communities and is considered the paper of record for Steele County. The Owatonna Area Shopper is also published in and around Owatonna.

History
The People's Press was founded on September 2, 1874 by Benjamin E. Darby as a weekly four-page paper.

Darby would serve as newspaper editor for 65 years, from 1874 until 1939.

The first issue of the Press, which predated public lighting in Owatanna, included a lengthy recounting of a county Convention that nominated candidates for various county offices.

The paper was expanded to ten pages of news and advertising in 1900 when railroad lines began intersecting Owatonna.

Darby added a daily edition in 1916 named the Daily People's Press and discontinued the weekly edition in 1921.

In 1938, Darby bought and consolidated the Steel County pioneer weekly Owatonna Journal-Chronicle to the Press.

In 1969, the name of the paper was officially changed to the Owatonna People's Press.

Publishers
The Owatonna People's Press is currently published by Adams Publishing Group Inc. based out of Coon Rapids, Minnesota and printed in Princeton, Minnesota.

Once a morning daily, the People's Press reduced its frequency to four days a week as of February 2021, transitioned to an afternoon delivery schedule and regionalized coverage.