History that isn’t recorded in an official written source often gets short and poor notice in a print and text-based society. As such, we offer readers some important dates to remember in Journal history.

February 1855

The Journal’s ancestor is founded at Prescott, Wis. by Charles E. Young, who later sells to Lute A. Taylor of River Falls just as the Civil War breaks. Young leaves Prescott to fight for the Union and will resettle elsewhere after the war, but the newspaper he founded—which Taylor will rename “The Prescott Journal” after his own newspaper at River Falls, will live on, recording local events throughout the 20th century—and beyond.

Late 1860s

The Pierce County Herald is started at Ellsworth, Wis., serving Pierce County until 2019, when it is consolidated with the Red Wing Republican Eagle by then parent company Forum Communications.

Fall 2008

The Prescott Journal is purchased by John and Lorena McLoone.

Summer 2019

The Prescott Journal holds a three-week subscription drive. The paper, which then has a small subscriber base and staff to reflect this, sees modest growth.

During the drive, Wisconsin undergoes further contraction of reliable news sources, Blair-Taylor losing their paper while Ellsworth residents witness the departure of the Pierce County Herald, moved across the river by its parent company after 152 years at Ellsworth. The office is moved to Red Wing, leading to questions as to how Pierce County Wisconsin legal notices are still being published in a Minnesota paper.

October 2019

The Prescott Journal loses one of its two official staff members to another Wisconsin paper, reducing the two-paper company (one located east of Eau Claire, the Stanley Republican) to its owner and one full-time employee for all newspaper-related tasks, a third person writing sports stories remotely, the stories supplemented by on-site pictures.

Winter 2019 to Spring 2020

The Prescott Journal begins to expand, driven in large part by the question of legal notices. Expanding first to Ellsworth and then River Falls, it quickly expands to the eastern half of Pierce County. This entails long hours for all involved. Mass mailings (paid mailing of a single free copy to all addresses within a specific area) and local store rollouts are used to build the subscriber base, which in turn provides the base to attract more and new advertisers.

An expanded history section and church directory are offered Journal readers, alongside community specific news. The cashflow from both advertisers and subscribers allow the newspaper to do its job of covering the local area with dedicated full-time staff. The title at the top of the paper changes over the course of the intervening months from “The Prescott Journal” (historical) to “The Prescott and Pierce County Journal” (transitional) and finally just “The Journal: Pierce County’s paper” (as at present). The name change follows a logical progression as an initial agreement sees the Journal distributed in the eastern part of the county by the Spring Valley Sun-Argus, working with the Journal on getting legal notices out to readers. The Journal staff continues small, covering Prescott and the Pierce County area even as the COVID shutdown stops the world in its tracks.

Coming soon after the COVID shutdown surprise is the news that two more papers are slated for termination by their parent corporation. Final issue dates are set for the Hastings Star-Gazette (dating to the 1860s) and the Bulletin of South Washington County (started at Thompson Grove in the late 1950s). Local news will cease for both Hastings and Cottage Grove in the Spring of 2020.

May 14, 2020

The Hastings Journal is born, the first issue hitting newsstands just days after the Hastings Star-Gazette publishes its last issue. With help from local writer Jewel Pickert the paper quickly takes off, while Bea Westerberg pens her “Spelling Bee Time” column, and Bruce Karnick joins the staff in August. Before long, the Journal is Hastings’ official newspaper, publishing legal notices and keeping area readers informed on Council matters and local happenings, including sports. Workers are added and the company adapts to growth, pursuing its basic mission to inform readers.

Oct. 15, 2020

The first issue of the Cottage Grove Journal hits newsstands, representing a further expansion to fill the void left by the departure of the Bulletin from South Washington County. Among the writers with a byline in the first Cottage Grove Journal are John McLoone, Bea Westerberg, Brian Schommer, Bruce Karnick, Chuck Spavin, Derek Simon, and Gene Policinski. Also included are a history section and an area church directory, the directory later systematized according to community in South Washington County, churches listings organized alphabetically. Public notice and the expansion this fuels have made possible for a successor to the Bulletin in covering South Washington County on a regular basis.

April 2021

Sarah Nigbor, former regional editor of the Pierce County Herald, New Richmond News, River Falls Journal and Hudson Star-Observer, is named editor for the Journal. By this time the company has established offices at Ellsworth and is quickly expanding. Staff is redirected as needed to cover all or part of three different counties, with long delivery routes and reporting hours put in by all. Reporters are added, and the future is bright.

Present day

The Journal continues its mission to record life week to week across three different counties, starting from humble origins at Prescott, Wis. Two other papers with the same company located in central Wisconsin record life events for readers in their areas.