The Greenville Advocate was established in 1865 by James B. Stanley who served as editor and publisher for more than 70 years until 1935.

J.G. Stanley assumed control of The Advocate in 1935, and served as editor and publisher for 32 years until his death in 1967. J.G. was succeeded by his son-in-law, W. Eugene Hardin, who served as editor and publisher for 27 years until The Advocate was purchased by Boone Newspapers, Inc., in 1994.

The History of Butler County, authored by John Buckner Little of Forest Home, outlines the early history of the county between 1815 and 1885. In this volume, Little describes the origin of The Greenville Advocate and its prominence nationally and internationally as a newspaper. The Advocate was awarded the first premium of $100 and a Gold Medal at the Southern Exposition in Louisville, Ky., in 1983, for being the best county weekly printed in the Southern states.

Since that time, The Advocate has been awarded numerous honors via the Alabama Press Association

It was noted in the Oct. 25, 1990 Special Edition of The Advocate that three of its editor-publishers had been inducted into the APA Hall of Honor at Auburn University, namely James Berney Stanley, Foster Webb Stanley, and John Glenn Stanley. Candidates for induction into the Hall of Honor are only eligible after their death.

Currently, The Advocate oversees the functions of its sister newspapers, The Luverne Journal, The Lowndes Signal and The Butler County News.

Gone from the multi-newspaper family base at Greenville are the rotary printers, hot lead linotype machine and the acid-burning etching machine that all at one time were essential to the production of the newspapers of the surrounding area. All publications are paginated on Macintosh computers on site in Greenville and transported to the Andalusia Star News via Internet connections and printed there.