On August 1, 1899, Edward S. Meers founded The Alpena News, which at the time was one of six newspapers being published in the area. Initially, The News was located at 109-11 E. Chisholm, where it shared equipment, ownership, and housing with the weekly Pioneer. The company was known as the Pioneer and News Printing Co.

Soon after the company's establishment, Homer K. Bryan and Thoms J. Ferguson joined the team. In 1909, William A. Comstock, James Collins, and Ferguson bought out Bryan. One of the purchasers, Comstock, was later elected Governor of Michigan. At the time, the Comstock estate was managed by William B. Roberson, who served as the president of the publishing company.

The Alpena News Publishing Company was officially created on September 21, 1909, by Roberson, Ferguson, and Collins. They were named as directors and shareholders, and their first order of business was to acquire the weekly Argus from J.C. Viall and the property at 115-17 W. River to serve as the newspaper's office and plant for over four decades. The company later moved to its current location at 130 Park Place in 1905.

John Emmet Richards had come to Alpena from Detroit in 1909, but as a report from the other daily, the Evening Echo, published by W.B. Dobson. He left here to join the stagg of The Detroit News and was night city editor there at the age of 21 when he resigned to come back to Alpena to join The Alpena News, this time to stay until his death almost 50 years later. Richards subsequently acquired an interest in The Alpena News and he, Ferguson, and Collings bought out Comstock in 1918. Earlier, in December of 1916, The Alpena News had acquired the Echo, the competing daily, to become the only newspaper in the field. ferguson and Richards acquired the Collins interest in January of 1920, and Richards became sole owner of The Alpena News in 1926, three years before Ferguson’s death.

The passing of Editor J. Emmet Richards on August 7, 1961, marked a transition in the organization. He was succeeded by his son, Philip, who had been an active staff member in different departments after completing his education and military service in World War II. Additionally, Patrick, his older son and executive editor at the time, was also an integral part of the team until his passing on November 30, 1959.

In 1950, The Alpena News moved to a new facility, which included a new press, and began publishing five evenings a week and Saturday morning. In February 1962, press capacity was increased from 16 to 24 pages in a single run.

The Alpena News underwent a significant modernization and expansion project, which included converting to offset printing. This marked the largest project in the paper's history, with the 40-page Goss Urbanite press being put into use on March 6th, 1972. The new equipment brought The Alpena News into the electronic age with phototypesetting, automatic film processing, and the ability to receive worldwide news pictures via microwave.

The Richards family sold the newspaper to Ogden Newspapers of Wheeling, West Virginia in 1988, and Ogden remains the current owner.