The non-partisan Appleton Post-Crescent newspaper was formed in 1920 by the merger of two partisan papers, the Appleton Crescent and the Appleton Post. The Green Bay-based architectural firm of Foeller, Schober, and Berners constructed the building in the Art Deco style at the northwest corner of Washington and Superior streets in downtown Appleton as the new headquarters of the Appleton Post-Crescent in 1932. The firm also designed the three subsequent additions to the building in 1951, 1972, and 1991.

Since its inception in 1920, the Post-Crescent has served as Appleton’s primary news source. From the 1930s to the 1970s, the newspaper expanded its news coverage from local to regional and national issues and its circulation increased as the metropolitan area of the Fox River Valley grew. As a result, the 1932 Appleton Post-Crescent Building was expanded in 1951, 1972, and 1991 to updates its printing presses and meet growing demand for the newspaper.

As the headquarters of the Appleton Post-Crescent, this building was the home of the city’s only daily newspaper and a prominent news source for the Fox River Valley region throughout the twentieth century.