The Kitchener-Waterloo Record began with the publication of the Daily News of Berlin on February 9, 1878 and was the first daily paper in the area. It was published by Peter Moyer. Over the years it had several names and publishers: in January of 1897 it was purchased by the German Printing and Publishing Company and was amalgamated with that company's Berlin Daily Record to become the Berlin News Record, and later still the News Record, all published by William (Ben) V. Uttley. In 1918 the publishers of the German-language paper the Berliner Journal, William D. Euler (later Senator for North Waterloo) and William J. Motz, purchased the News Record and changed the name to the Kitchener Daily Record. On July 17, 1922 the Record absorbed the other daily, the Daily Telegraph. With that event, the original three daily papers (the News Record, the Berlin Daily Record, and the Daily Telegraph) became one.

The Berliner Journal began in December 29, 1859 by Frederick Rittinger and John Motz, and was located on Queen Street south, Kitchener. Motz remained editor until his death in 1899, at which time his son William acquired his father's interest. When Rittinger died in 1915 his share was acquired by William D. Euler. The weekly Journal ended on May 10, 1924. The Record’s first staff photographer was Harry Huehnergard, who worked for the paper for 49 years before retiring in 1986 as Manager of the Photographic Department.

In 1948 the Kitchener Daily Record was re-named the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, which name it retained until 1994, when it became simply The Record. In 1928 the paper moved from its home at 49 King Street west to a new building at 30 Queen Street north where it was to stay for 44 years until moving in May 1973 to 225 Fairway Road. When William J. Motz died in 1946 his son John E. Motz took over as publisher. The by-then Senator Euler sold his interest to Southam Press in 1953. John E. Motz died in 1975 and the Motz Family continued to own a controlling interest in the paper until 1990, when it was sold to Southam. In 1998, The Record was sold to Sun Media Corporation, and then in March 1999, to Torstar Corporation. In January 2005, the paper moved its offices to Market Square on King Street east in Kitchener's downtown core, and on March 11, 2008, the name was changed to the Waterloo Region Record.

Carl Balzer "Cully" Schmidt was a journalist and the editor of the Kitchener-Waterloo Record. Schmidt was born in Waterloo (Ontario) on March 9, 1911, the third of four children to Lydia Catherine Burghardt and Carl Heinrich Eckhardt (“Charles Henry Edward”) Schmidt. On October 7, 1936, Schmidt married Margaret Elizabeth Lockhart. The couple had two children: Margaret Jane and John Alexander.

Schmidt began working as a paper carrier for the Kitchener-Waterloo Record as a boy and started writing as a journalist at the age of 17. He went on to move through various roles in the editorial department before being named editor-in-chief of the newspaper in 1968, at the age of 56. Nicknamed the "Iron Duke," Schmidt held the role until his retirement in 1975.

During his youth, Schmidt served as a player and team representative in the Ontario Hockey Association and the Ontario Rugby Football League, curling player and controlling body of the Kitchener-Waterloo Granite Club, and president of the Athletic Association of Kitchener and Waterloo. Schmidt was also president of the Kitchener Musical Society, the operating body of the Kitchener Concert Band, and a founding member of the Western Ontario Newspaper Awards in 1952 (renamed the Ontario Newspaper Awards in 2004).

Cully Schmidt died in Waterloo on September 21, 2006, at 95.