 The last local owner of the paper was Jared How, who sold The Free Press Co. to Ottaway Newspapers Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Jones & Company.Ottaway acquired 11 percent of the company in 1977 and the remainder in 1979.In 2002, Ottaway sold "The Free Press" and other papers to Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.
On its 50th anniversary, "The Free Press" circulation was 12,000.