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| My favorite photo. Car with custom license plate. |
On Labor Day we took the Metra Electric District train to Pullman. It was the first time since moving to Hyde Park in Chicago we traveled south on the commuter train instead of north to downtown. Unlike the neighborhoods on the north side of the city, few people visit most of the southern communities.
Pullman was originally built as a company town in the late 1800s by George Pullman for the workers at the Pullman rail car factory. I've come across several references to the African-American porters who worked on the rail cars. The porters didn't live in the factory town while it was owned by the company, as African-Americans weren't hired for production work at that time. The workers were European, many of them immigrants.
When the community was built it was a remote, self-contained village. The Pullman company was ordered to sell the homes after a workers' strike around the turn of the century. During our visit my family and I were dismayed to find the neighborhood's only cafe was closed. Our only food option was a hot dog truck. Like many south side neighborhoods, services are lacking.
The area struggled to survive during the twentieth century. Mid-century the neighborhood was in danger of being razed to clear space for an industrial park.
The Pullman community has worked hard to keep their neighborhood from falling into complete disrepair like so many places on the south side. The neighborhood rallied and got historic designations for the village. In 2015 some of the sites were designated a national monument. A visitors center is now staffed by park rangers.
Below are some photos of the historic homes.
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| While taking this picture I met a mother taking two kids to visit at this home. She said it was owned by her grandmother. |
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All the houses in town were originally owned by the Pullman company.
Higher ranking employees got fancier houses located closer to the factory. |
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| Modest homes were located farther away from the town center and factory. |
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| Alley decorated with artwork. All of the houses built by Pullman had private backyards and wood sheds. |
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| Building duplexes and row houses saved money on construction costs and created a village modeled (somewhat) upon a couple of European company towns. |
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| Pullman believed in adding lots of hand-crafted detailing to his Pullman rail cars and his company town. |
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| When George Pullman owned the town landscapers were employed to maintain the front yards and common grounds. The tradition of beautiful plantings continues today. |
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| Pullman continues to be a mostly working class neighborhood.The more modest homes are cheap to buy. A row house in foreclosure can be had for less than $50,000. A similar apartment is $850 a month and Section 8 renters are welcome. Even the fancier row homes, which were rented by factory managers, are inexpensive compared to the north side of Chicago. |
