Extraordinary Stories From An Ordinary Guy: The "The Tobacco Warehouse/Printing Company Comes Alive Once Again" Story

The Press Building at the corner of North Prince and West Lemon.

It was an ordinary day. A bit windy and cold as I stood at the intersection of North Prince and West Lemon Streets in Lancaster, Pennsylvania taking photos of the newly finished luxury condominiums known as "The Press Building". The five story building has been transformed into high-end condominiums after years of sitting empty.

A fire in the early 20th century almost destroyed the building.

The building was built at the end of the the nineteenth century as a tobacco warehouse for the S.R. Moss & Company. A fire, blamed on a weak electric pole, caused $800,000 to the warehouse and another $200,000 to the American Cigar Company which was located to the north of the warehouse. Eventually the warehouse was purchased by P. Lorillard in 1920.

The building as I remember it when it was Lancaster Press Company.
It was then purchased by R.R. Donnelly & Sons for their cartography div.

The five-story building was one of the most elaborate tobacco ware- houses in Lancaster County having recessed bays which were defined on the façade by rounded arches and on the side by corralled brick. In the 1940s German prisoner's of war were used as workers in this building to process tobacco. The building changed hands in the mid-1900s when the B.F. Good & Company Leaf Tobacco Company bought it to be their warehouse.

The new entrance into the condos.

Then the building was changed into a printing company known as Lancaster Press for many years. Eventually, in 1985 R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company purchased the building and used it as its cartography division which researched and made maps. Printing operations filled the building for over 70 years. Then in 2014 the vacant building was sold for $200,000 and was transformed into luxury condominiums. Carol and I were going to make a visit to see what the upscale places looked like, but never got a chance before all the units were sold. Photos of what the remodeling looked like were posted online. I have posted a few to show you what an old, run-down building can look like after major renovations. I'm sure that other cities have recycled unused buildings to create housing, but perhaps not as interesting as what has happened to the Lancaster Press Building. I was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.