Chicago Printers Row neighbourhood

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About this tour https://www.heygo.com/tourswithmike

Chicago has at least 77 neighborhoods (it depends on who you ask), each with its own histories, evolutions, landmarks, and unique characteristics. The "Chicago's Neighborhoods" series reveals these stories and highlights the diversity of this wonderful city. The Printers Row area has had many lives: a prolific vice district, a bustling publishing center, a zone of urban decay, and a revitalized residential neighborhood. Throughout all these incarnations, it has always been one-of-a-kind. Despite being next to Chicago's Loop, the city's central business district, many people do not know much about this landmark area filled with unique features, beautiful lofts, and wonderful stories. This tour is a great opportunity to discover what makes Printers Row so special.

By the late 19th-century, Printers Row was the epicenter of printing in the Midwest. For many decades, millions of books flowed from this mecca of printing and bookbinding. R.R. Donnelley & Sons and Rand McNally are prominent examples of famous Printers Row business.

The red brick Franklin building dates to 1916. Polychrome terracotta tiles along the building’s east facade depict those who once plied their trade here, including a typesetter and a bookbinder. A painted tile mural commemorates the first printing of the Gutenberg Bible.

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