20070110 Donahue Building and Plymouth and Polk

Printers Row, also known as Printing House Row, is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

located in the south of the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

downtown area known as the

Loop Loop or LOOP may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live * Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets * Loop Mobile, an ...

. The heart of Printers Row is generally defined by

Ida B. Wells Drive Ida B. Wells Drive (formerly Congress Parkway) is a major east–west street in downtown Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It runs east from the Jane Byrne Interchange, where it meets Interstate 90 (I-90), I-94 and I-290. At Wel ...

on the north, Polk Street on the south, Plymouth Court on the east, and the

Chicago River The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). Though not especially long, the river is notable because it is one of the reasons for ...

on the west. This neighborhood overlaps significantly with the officially designated landmark

Printing House Row District The Printing House Row District is a National Historic Landmark District encompassing four architecturally important buildings on the 300 through 500 blocks of South Dearborn, South Federal and South Plymouth streets in the Loop community area ...

to the north of Ida B Wells Drive and the

South Loop Printing House District South Loop Printing House District is a historic district in the downtown Chicago Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. The district is roughly bounded by Congress, Polk, State, Taylor, and Wells Streets and includes 28 contributing buildings. The dis ...

to the south of the Drive. The neighborhood includes

Dearborn Station Dearborn Station (also referred to as Polk Street Depot) was, beginning in the late 1800s, one of six intercity train stations serving downtown Chicago, Illinois. It remained in operation until May 1, 1971. Built in 1883, it is located at ...

, which is also on the National Register of Historic Places. Many of the buildings in this area were used by

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

and

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

businesses. Today, the buildings have mainly been converted into residential lofts with the last remaining printer, Palmer Printing, Inc., near the corner of Clark and Polk streets, selling to residential developers in early 2018.

Buildings

Buildings in the neighborhood include the M.A. Donohue & Co. Building at Plymouth Court and Polk Street, and the red brick and polychromatic tile Franklin Building. It features painted tile depictions of printing tradesmen such as a bookbinder and typesetter as well as a painted tile mural of the "first impression" of the

Gutenberg Bible The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42) was the earliest major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe. It marked the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of printed b ...

. When

, then known as Congress Parkway, was extended west between 1949 and 1952 through the area, it separated what is now the historic buildings of the

from those of the

Education

Printers Row is zoned to the following

Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles. ...

campuses: South Loop School and

Phillips Academy High School Wendell Phillips Academy High School is a public 4–year high school located in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Phillips is part of the Chicago Public Schools district and is managed by the Acad ...

. The campus of

Jones College Prep High School William Jones College Preparatory High School (commonly known as Jones College Prep) is a public 4-year selective-enrollment high school located in the Printer's Row neighborhood in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States. Jones is operated by ...

is also located near printers row at 700 S State Street. The area is also a student-oriented center with the University Center of Chicago (UCC), housing over 3,000 college students in dorm and apartment style units, as well as Dwight Lofts and 731 South Plymouth Court, two student housing buildings owned by

Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1890, it has 5,928https://about.colum.edu/effectiveness/pdf/spring-2021-student-profile.pdf students pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergra ...

. Colleges in the area include

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The unive ...

, Columbia College,

Robert Morris University Robert Morris University (RMU) is a private university in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1921 and is named after Robert Morris, known as the "financier of the mericanrevolution." It enrolls nearly 5,000 students and offers 60 b ...

, UIC Law School, and the

campus of

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

Transportation

Printers Row is served by the Harrison Station on the CTA's Red Line, as well as LaSalle Station on the Blue Line.

Festivals

The annual Printers Row Literary Festival, "Lit Fest", is held in early June along Dearborn Street.

Notes

External links

Printers Row, Chicago
at

City-Data City-Data is an Illinois-based social networking and information website that presents data and information pertaining to United States cities, and offers public online forums for discussion. Data on site US cities, counties, zip codes, and nei ...

Official City of Chicago Loop Community Map
Central Chicago Neighborhoods in Chicago {{Chicago-geo-stub