Building on history

In later years its tenants were more run-of-the-mill retailers; at one point it was a lunch counter, then a men’s clothing store, and in the 1950s it hosted City Pizza, whose giant sign advertised “sliced crispy pizza’’ for 15 cents.

“Over its full history, the building has had many different uses that speak to how the city has changed over the years,’’ said Kathy Kottaridis, executive director of Historic Boston Inc., a nonprofit that bought the Old Corner Bookstore to restore it in 1960. The store is part of a five-building complex owned by the organization, which uses the leasing proceeds to preserve other culturally significant structures across the city.

Chipotle, which features gourmet burritos and other Mexican food items, is planning to open its restaurant by the end of the year - part of a nationwide expansion that could add up to 145 new outlets. The chain operates 20 restaurants in Massachusetts, and the School Street location will be its second outlet in Boston; the other is at 101 Summer St. near South Station.

The Boston Landmarks Commission approved signs for Chipotle in April. The commission is considering designating the building a landmark, which would require extra review for any new changes to its exterior.

The building’s heyday was in the mid-19th century, when the presence of Ticknor & Fields made the property a gathering place for authors such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Dickens, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The publisher churned out the first editions of many of their most celebrated works.

The presses also printed the Atlantic Monthly magazine, and the building itself anchored a corner of the city’s old Newspaper Row, on Washington Street, which The Boston Globe, the now-defunct Boston Post, and other publications called home.