The roots of the Petaluma Argus-Courier go back to 1855 -- three years before Petaluma was incorporated as a city.

Thomas L. Thompson published the first local paper on Aug. 18, 1855 -- the Petaluma Weekly Journal.

The Petaluma Argus made its first appearance in the fall of 1859 under the proprietorship of J.J. Pennypacker.

In 1864, the Argus merged with the Journal, becoming the Petaluma Journal and Argus.

In 1873, the name Journal was dropped from the masthead and the paper became the Petaluma Weekly Argus.

By the late 1890s, it had evolved into the Daily Argus.

The paper was owned by the Olmsted family from 1900 to 1965. The Olmsteds bought the Petaluma Courier in 1928 and merged the two papers into the Petaluma Argus-Courier that year. They continued to publish both a morning and an evening edition until 1953, when the morning edition was discontinued.

In 1965, the Argus-Courier was sold to Scripps League Newspapers.

In May of 1993, the newspaper was redesigned and its frequency changed to twice a week.

In 1996, Scripps sold its newspaper holdings to Pulitzer Inc.

In February of 1999, the paper underwent another transformation to its current weekly tabloid configuration. With each change, the paper placed more emphasis on local news. In its current incarnation, the Argus-Courier averages 64 pages and features an in-depth cover story on a local issue, as well as sections devoted to local news, community, education, entertainment, business and sports.

The Argus-Courier's web site includes a daily 5 o'clock update to give online readers up-to-date breaking news.

On Sept. 1, 2001, the New York Times Company bought the Argus-Courier.

The Argus-Courier is committed to continuing its rich tradition of community journalism, and was recognized by the California Newspaper Publishers Association at its annual convention in August 2001 with five awards for excellence in writing and editing.

On Feb. 10, 2003, the Argus-Courier moved to new offices at 1304 Southpoint Blvd. at the corner of North McDowell and Southpoint boulevards.