December 11, 2024
Local News

Then & Now: Pullman Neighborhood – Chicago

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A view of the Florence Hotel, circa 1907. Located near the corner of 111th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, the hotel opened on November 1, 1881, as the hospitality showcase for visitors to the town of Pullman. The hotel, named for George’s favorite daughter, Florence, had 50 sleeping rooms, a dining room, a billiard room, barber shop, separate men’s and women’s parlors, and the only bar in the town. (Courtesy of)

George Mortimer Pullman was born in Brockton, New York. He and his family soon relocated to the town of Albion, located along the Erie Canal. At age 14, Pullman dropped out of school and began working with his father to move houses during the expansion of the Erie Canal.

In 1859, George Pullman established himself in Chicago as a building raiser and mover. Unlike other cities, Chicago sat just a few feet above the water level of Lake Michigan. Built on a bog, Chicago was unable to construct a sewage system without first raising the level of the streets. Using his knowledge of relocating buildings to new foundations, Pullman invented a method to raise Chicago’s buildings to the new grade level. In doing so, Pullman made an early fortune. After raising buildings, Pullman turned his attention to railroads.

In the 1860s, cross-country trains were considered cramped and uncomfortable as well as dangerous. Pullman sought to change this by designing a rail car that would provide comfortable and elegant accommodations for overnight travelers. In 1864, the first Pullman sleeping car, the Pioneer, was constructed.

The Pioneer was not an instant success, but did receive national attention when it was chosen as the car to take President Lincoln’s body from Washington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois. The attention caused an increased demand for his cars, and by 1867, Pullman founded the Pullman Palace Car Company. The Pullman Palace Car Company bought 4,000 acres for its location and hired architect Solon Spencer Beman and landscape architect Nathan Barrett to design the buildings and the layout of Pullman and factories.

George Pullman looked for a solution to labor unrest in the late 19th century. Pullman wanted to avoid the workers who had participated in the 1877 Railroad Strike or those he believed to morally corrupted by urban poverty and social dislocation.

Most of the town was built between 1880 and 1884, and the center of the town was his railroad car business.

The brick housing for the workers was separated from the industrial areas and was primarily lined throughout the community as row houses with streets in front and alleys in the rear for trash collection. The housing was constructed with modern conveniences such as indoor plumbing, sewage and a gas works. The town would not be complete without public facilities such as stores, schools, office buildings, a bank, library, theater, post office, church, parks and recreational facilities.

The factors at Pullman attracted thousands of immigrant workers, most of whom were skilled workers. They desired a higher salary than unskilled workers.

The depression of 1893 to 1894 caused Pullman to reduce his workers’ wages and hours. When Pullman workers went on strike in 1894, protesting cuts in wages while rents remained unchanged, the strike captured national attention.

After the strike, commentators from across the nation debated the proper nature of the relationship between employers and employees, as well as the social, political and economic rights of working-class men and women. In 1898, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the company had to divest itself of residential property in Pullman. By the end of the first decade of the 20th century, the company of Pullman no longer owned the residential property around the industrial complex.

On Feb. 19, 2015, President Barack Obama designated Pullman as a National Monument, making it a component of the National Park Service.