Printers Building facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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The Printers Building
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 Location in Massachusetts
Location in the United States
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| Location | 44-50 Portland St., Worcester, Massachusetts |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1923 |
| Architect | Timmis, Walter S. |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 80000585 |
| Added to NRHP | March 05, 1980 |
The Printers Building is a really old and important building located at 44-50 Portland Street in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts. It was finished in 1923. This building was made especially for companies that print books, newspapers, and other materials. Even today, it's still used for printing and publishing, and one of the first companies that moved in is still there! Because of its history and unique purpose, the Printers Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2020. This means it's recognized as a special place worth protecting.
Discovering the Printers Building
What Makes This Building Special?
The Printers Building stands just south of Worcester Common. You can find it on the east side of Portland Street. It's between Austin and Federal Streets.
This building is seven stories tall. It's made from strong reinforced concrete. The outside is covered with brick and stone. It has a flat roof on top.
The front of the building has five sections, called bays. On the ground floor, each bay used to have a storefront. One bay, in the middle-right, holds the main entrance.
A fancy stone band separates the ground floor from the upper levels. This band has decorative carvings called cartouches. The upper floors have groups of windows. The outer bays have two windows each. The inner bays have four windows. Brickwork separates the middle sections of floors two through six.
A Home for Printers and Publishers
Worcester was once a city with many different industries. Printing was a big part of its economy. In 1922, several printing companies decided to work together. They wanted to create a building where printing and publishing could be done fairly.
One of these companies was Commonwealth Press. It operated in the building until 1989. Another was Davis Press, now called Davis Publications. This company still has its offices in the building today.
A special trust was set up to own the building. This trust still manages the building. The building was designed by Walter S. Timmis. He was an architect from New York City who specialized in buildings for printers.
When it was first built, the ground floor had shops. The second floor was for publishing offices. The upper floors were for printing operations. These upper floors were built extra strong. This was to support the heavy printing presses used back then.
