For over eighty years, Norwood’s printing industry was an important part of the fabric of the town. It not only made the town known as the printing center of the United States, but It provided jobs to thousands of people over the years. The people who came to work those jobs came from all over, making Norwood a multicultural community. This influx of people caused the town to grow, in many ways. The legacy of Norwood’s printing industries and the reformers who shaped Norwood from a village to a town are woven deep into Norwood’s history, and yet are still present today.
By mid the 1970s Norwood’s printing industry had either moved out of town or closed their doors forever. Norwood became to be a company town to new companies. However, by the turn of the twenty first century, Norwood had become mostly a bedroom community to people who commuted to their jobs. In the summer of 2018, the Plimpton Press building was torn down. For many years it had had a hard time finding renters. By 2018, it was over one hundred-twenty years old, and it was large and outdated. Herbert M. Plimpton is said to have loved the latest advancements in technology, so perhaps he would have thought it time to build something modern in place of his old building. By the spring of 2019, a new building is rising from the Plimpton buildings foundations. Soon, it will be a place many will call home.
Because of the printing industries came to Norwood, Norwood was forever changed, culturally, socially, economically, and it is these changes have shaped the Norwood of today.