While the publishing industry has gone from the neighborhood, this historic heart of Downtown Chicago is still alive with plenty to do, see, and eat.
Welcome to Printer’s Row Chicago, once the Windy City’s publishing district. It runs from Congress Parkway in the north to Polk Street in the south. All but one of the printers and publishers have moved on but there’s still a lot going on in this compact area packed full of history.
Printer’s Row is on the National Register for Historic Places thanks to the enormous and grand buildings. Once upon a time, they would have once housed thousands of people and presses. The Pontiac building dates back to 1891, while the Franklin Building has a host of beautiful murals and inscriptions that refer to the publishing industry here. The sheer size of these giant red-brick skyscrapers is amazing – at one time, they churned out millions of newspapers and paperbacks.
But the publishing connections aren’t all dead and buried. Every June, the Printer’s Row Literary Festival attracts over 80,000 people, who flock here for talks, author readings, book fairs, and special programs.
Nowadays, this quirky little part of Downtown is home to a mix of shops, cafés, and restaurants. Find anything from an organic soya latte to a brand-new bike. You will also still come across bookshops in the blocks that make up Printer’s Row. Go browsing for hard to find titles.
As with most blocks in Downtown Chicago, you’re never far from a craft beer bar. Once you’ve finished looking at the buildings, head to one of the many hipster joints. There’s tacos, Danish beer, homemade ice cream, martinis, and serious burgers all within a couple of streets of each other. A few blocks either side of the area you’ll find great theaters and jazz and blues clubs, as well as the odd speakeasy. It might be the most varied nightlife district in Chicago, so get stuck in!