The United Brethren Publishing House was a prominent publisher of religious books and periodicals operating in what’s today the Centre City (Mainline) Building.
Nearby at Fifth and Ludlow Streets, you can still find two buildings that were once the home of another major religious publisher: the Ohio Christian Book Association, later known as the Christian Publishing Association. It was associated with a Protestant denomination that was one of the organizations that later merged into the current United Church of Christ.
It was founded in 1843 and among its publications was The Herald of Gospel Liberty, which some sources have called the world’s oldest religious newspaper.
The publishing house called downtown home since the 1860s, and near the turn of the century it was located at Sixth and Main Streets, on a block that was later razed for the construction of Union Station.
From there, the publishing house erected a new building nearby at Fifth and Ludlow in 1905, a rectangular 4-story orange pressed brick structure with detailing in cast iron and decorated iron.
After just about two decades, they were on the move again, and this time the distance to the new location would be even shorter.
In 1924, the publishing association commissioned a new 5-story building on other side of Ludlow Street in the middle of Fifth and Sixth Streets.
It was designed by the local architectural firm of Schenck and Williams who also were responsible for the Liberty Tower, Hawthorn Hill, and the Engineers Club.
The structure has details of marble and limestone and a heavy use of concrete which was “used to support weight of company’s printing machinery and materials storage.” The large windows on the front were designed to allow abundant natural light into the building.
A historic image captures what their presses looked like, as well as the book sales room.
For all the excitement over the new building, the Christian Publishing Association would only occupy it for about 11 years, vacating the space in 1936.
Later it was occupied by Drury Press.
After being vacant for several years, the building was recently redeveloped into apartments by Windsor Companies, who also did the Deneau Tower a block away, the Fire Blocks, and other local projects.
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