Chicago's National Park

Pullman National Monument was officially added to the National Park Service (#407) on February 19, 2015, but today was the first opportunity we have had since then to visit. So this morning we took the Edens to the Kennedy, followed by the Dan Ryan, and then the Bishop Ford Freeway - haven't forgotten my Chicagoland expressway lingo! We were joined by our friend S and his son K, who met us down there to check it out, too.

Mural on the back wall of the visitor center

When M and J were little, they were train fanatics. We fed their train obsession with books, videos, toys, rides, and visits to as many train museums as we could possibly find. Prior to today, our knowledge of "Pullman" was limited to the sleeper cars we saw on display at those railroad museums.

Time for a short history lesson...

George Pullman (1831-1897) recognized the need for rail cars that would provide comfortable and elegant accommodations for overnight travelers. A wealthy entrepreneur, he founded the Pullman Palace Car Company in 1867 to build a variety of cars (sleeping cars, hotel cars, parlor cars, dining cars) for the railroads. Because they were too expensive for railroad companies to purchase outright, Pullman built his business model around leasing the cars and providing the staff needed to serve passengers.

In 1880, Pullman began construction of manufacturing facilities south of Chicago, as well as a master-planned company town to house his employees. The spacious row houses featured indoor plumbing and were much nicer than the tenements in the city. However, when the economy faltered during the Panic of 1893, demand for sleeping cars diminished. In response, Pullman lowered employee wages, but did not decrease the rent charged for housing or prices for goods in the company stores. This contributed to the unrest that led to the Pullman Strike in May 1894. 

The American Railways Union, led by Eugene V. Debs, expanded the strike into a nationwide boycott of any train that utilized a Pullman car, bringing all railroad traffic to a standstill. President Grover Cleveland directed federal troops to restore train service, but violence between the striking workers and the military left dozens dead or injured. By August 1894, the strike and boycott had subsided, and Pullman workers who renounced the union were allowed to return to their jobs. These events had a profound effect on labor and industry - it demonstrated how much power a union could exert, but it also affirmed the ability of the government to intervene. 

In 1898, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that company ownership of non-manufacturing structures within the town was illegal, and residents were given the first opportunity to purchase their houses. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the neighborhood was given landmark status, and homeowners received grants to restore their properties. I love how these old row houses look now!

Greenstone Church

Hotel Florence

Pullman NM also includes two other historic landmark buildings, the Hotel Florence and the Factory Administration Building. Both are currently undergoing renovation, so we could only view them from the outside. The Pullman State Historic Site offers tours of the factory building on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month.

Clock Tower / Administration Building

All three boys have been playing the Pokémon GO app, so while they were more than happy to walk around Pullman (to hatch their "eggs"), we had to spend a little extra time at one spot while they battled in the "gym". I get my stamps, they get their Pokémon, win-win!

Since it was only designated last year, the presentation at this unit is still a work in progress. But it will be fun to visit again and see what the NPS has done to tell the story of Pullman.