The first issue of the Port Byron Globe appeared October 16, 1880, J. W. Simpson being editor and proprietor. It was then an eight-column folio and was liberally patronized from the start. Mr. Simpson, February 22, 1885, sold out to Hess and Owen. This firm continued for a year, when Mr. Hess sold his interest to C. A. Metzgar, and the latter disposed of his interest to Mr. Owen after only a short connection with the paper. In 1891 W. D. Hall purchased an interest and the firm was then known as Owen and Hall. March 1, 1898, Frank McMeekin purchased Mr. Owen’s interest and the firm of Hall and McMeekin continued five years, when the junior member of the partnership retired from the publication and W. D. Hall became sole owner, and continues as such at the present time. The Globe has always borne the reputation of being one of the best country weeklies of the State. Its advertising space is sought because it is backed by the entire farming community and the villages of the north end of the county, and it is also carefully edited and neatly printed. Under the management of Mr. Hall the business of the paper has doubled, and it is at present equipped with power presses and other machinery to meet the increase in its patronage. The paper has always been independent politically, giving first attention to the home news, and treating all fairly and honestly, regardless of color, sex or previous condition of servitude. In short, the paper is a family paper and its present proprietor feels that his efforts to make it such are appreciated, as his readers point to the Globe as a model country paper.
Source: Historic Rock Island County, pub. Kramer & Company, Rock Island, Illinois, 1908