A two-block stretch of South Dearborn Street that was Chicago's printing and publishing district from the 1880s through the mid-20th century and is now one of the better-preserved 19th-century commercial street environments in the city. The loft conversions on Printer's Row were among the first in Chicago — the neighbourhood became residential from the 1970s onward — and the ornamental cast-iron and terracotta facades remain largely intact.
The annual Printer's Row Lit Fest, held on Dearborn in June, is the largest free outdoor book fair in the Midwest. The Dearborn Street streetscape, particularly the Pontiac Building and the Donohue Building, gives a clear picture of what Chicago's commercial architecture looked like before the Loop became dominated by steel-frame towers.