South Dearborn Street-Printing House Row Historic District

This compact district along South Dearborn Street in Chicago brings together four major commercial buildings of the late 1800s, in an area associated with publishing and printing. The Manhattan Building, designed by William LeBaron Jenney, was the world's tallest when built and was the first to use wind bracing on its skeleton frame. Daniel Burnham's Fisher Building, with Gothic ornament, was one of the first curtain wall structures. The Old Colony Building, by Holabird and Roche, shows construction techniques of its day, and its narrow form suited the printing trades. The Monadnock Building was built in two parts, a north half by Burnham and Root in 1880-1891 and a south half by Holabird and Roche in 1893. It is one of the largest masonry bearing wall structures ever built and is often praised for its unified design. Together the buildings illustrate the Chicago School and the development of the skyscraper.