The Summerside Progress began publication in 1866 under the editorship of Thomas Kirwin and the ownership of Robert T. Holman. It was a politically independent newspaper which supported the annexation of P.E.I, to the United States and opposed Confederation. Other issues discussed in the paper included reciprocity, the railroad and education. Foreign and local news, fiction, poetry, anecdotes and advertisements were all printed in the Summerside Progress, with local news coverage being especially good. Editorials were quick to criticize any government party.
In 1869, the Progress fell into the hands of Henry Lawson and it became a Liberal newspaper. Its Liberal bias was sustained in 1876 when Thomas P. Gorman became the paper's proprietor and
editor. Over the next three years, the Summerside Progress defended the rights of the Irish and the French Catholics in Prince County. During the debate on the School Question, the paper opposed the Education Act and the Liberal Davies administration for not supporting a separate school system.
In 1879, the Progress was sold to R. MacDonald and it became a Liberal-Conservative newspaper under the editorship of C.B. McNeill, the Liberal-Conservatives supporting the Conservative
party but favouring free trade. In January of 1881, the Progress was sold to W.A. Brennan, the proprietor of the Conservative Summerside Journal. This sale was seen by the deposed editor, C.B. McNeill, as inimical to the interests of the Liberal-Conservatives, and so, for a short time following
the takeover, he published a rival paper, True Progress, from Charlottetown.
In February of 1881, the Summerside Progress was again sold, the purchaser being Simon Delaney. Delaney and Gay published the paper until 1882, when it finally folded.
Publisher note: Thomas Kirwin, July 16, 1866 - May 8, 1869; C. B. McNeill, 1879 - Jan. 1881; Progress Publishing Company, Jan. 1881 - Feb. 1881; Delaney and Gay, Feb. 1881 - 1882.
