the neighborhood we know today as Pullman was one of the first industrial planned communities in the
United States explicitly built for the Pullman Palace car company employees George Pullman set
out to create a utopian society in Chicago you see he wanted the contract and retain the most
talented workers available and hope to do so by providing such a high standard of living that
workers would be happy productive and less likely to strike Pullman is one of Chicago's 77 defined
Community areas and is a neighborhood located on the city's South Side 12 miles from the Chicago
Loop situated adjacent to Lake Calumet the Pullman district has many historic and architecturally
significant buildings some of which have seen better times so join me as we discover the rise
and fall of Chicago's Pullman District I'm your host Ryan silkash and you're watching it's history
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free life insurance quotes and see how much you can save the model industrial town of Pullman
Illinois saw its beginning on May the 26th 1880. this town was the physical expression of an idea
born and nurtured in the mind of George m Pullman president of Pullman's Palace car company although
his primary manufacturing plant was in Detroit Pullman was a long time Chicago resident his
plan was ambitious you see by developing a total environment Superior to that available to other
working class areas Pullman hoped to attract the most skilled workers to build his luxury
rail cars and attain greater productivity due to his employees Better Health and spirit it was
Pullman's philosophy that happy workers would make more productive workers so we hired the best in
architecture and Landscaping to help him realize his vision the four Thousand Acre track selected
for the factory and town lay in open Prairie and Marshland along the western shore of Lake Calumet
approximately 12 miles south of Chicago the site was perfect as the town would have accessibility
to the big city markets and railroad connections throughout the country it was linked to Chicago
and the southern states by the Illinois Central Railroad and then onto the World by Lake calumet's
connection to Lake Michigan and the Saint Lawrence River even before Pullman's first
residence settled there in 1881 visitors came to admire its beauty which stood in stark contrast
to other working-class areas in industrial cities Pullman employees executed the construction of the
Town structures were made of brick fashioned from clay found in lake Calumet a Brickyard was built
south of the town for this purpose furthermore Pullman's shops produced parts used throughout
the building of the town this project was perhaps one of the first applications of industrial
technology and mass production and constructing a large-scale Housing Development amazingly the
town of more than one thousand homes and public buildings was completed by 1884. most Pullman
employees lived in houses containing two to seven rooms foundations and some ornamentation Were Made
of Stone and pitched roofs were made of slate the homes produced in blocks of two or more provided
an economy of construction and maintenance each dwelling was supplied with gas and water access
to complete sanitary facilities and abundant quantities of sunlight and fresh share every home
had Direct access to a private yard Woodshed and paved alley front and back yards provided personal
Green Space while expansive parks and open lands provided larger shaded ones maintenance of the
residence was included in the rental price as was daily garbage pickup so Pullman workers lived in
brick houses and had access to schools Parks a library a theater educational programs and many
other activities provided by the town when the State Labor Commissioner visited in 1884 they
proclaimed it was a successful Venture especially for the women and children who seemed protected
from the worst aspects of industrial America Pullman's architect was incredibly proud that he
had met the workers needs within the neighborhood and Designs some even say that the distinctive row
houses were comfortable by the standards of today the concept of a company town like Pullman was not
new or even unique however it can be argued that the execution of the idea in this case was perhaps
the most successful in history the total cost to build the Pullman town was eight million dollars
the first permanent residence the Benson family moved into the town on January the 1st 1881 at
Lawrence Street by April the Pullman car shops were in operation by May more than 350 people
lived in Pullman the original town of Pullman was completed in 1884 with an average rent for
a three-room apartment costing about eight dollars per month the rent for a five-room row house with
a basement bathroom and water faucet on every two floors was 18 per month larger homes for
professionals and Company officers began at 25 rents were calculated to achieve a six percent
return on the cost of housing however the investment never reached more than four and a
half percent housing in Pullman was somewhat more expensive than in other parts of the city but it's
important to note here that the housing quality was far superior to that available to workers
elsewhere all Pullman homes had indoor toilet facilities and running water which was unheard of
for the working class in the area of the city back then by 1885 30 000 trees bordered the streets and
parks primarily white elm Maple Ash and Linden to supply enough landscaping materials for the
entire Community six acres of land on the shore of Lake Calumet between 113th and 114th streets were
used for a nursery and a greenhouse space various housing types can be found from block to block the
architectural differences were designed to meet varying incomes status and family makeup but there
was also a visual aspect as they suited variation in the general streetscape such variations are
evident in the level of ornamentation in the roof lines chimneys and finished materials continuity
was maintained by the similarity of proportions repetition of crucial details and setbacks from
the stream in many ways the Pullman District was an amazing climax to an amazing success you
see towards the end of the 1850s George Pullman began remodeling passenger coach railroad cars the
Pullman Palace car Corporation was incorporated in 1867 its first manufacturing shops were in
Detroit and New York state by 1877 it operated about 460 luxury passenger cars supervised by
Caucasian conductors and African-American Porters by the early 1890s nearly 6
000 of the company's 14 000 employees Nationwide worked in Pullman where annual outputs stood at 12
000 Freight cars and one thousand passenger cars but as you've probably noticed by now in our Tales
of Urban Decay nothing lasts forever after an economic downturn in 1893 the company laid off
thousands of workers Pullman employees responded in 1894 by going on strike this strike soon had
National effects because tens of thousands of American Railway union members showed their
support for Pullman workers by launching a boycott of trains pulling Pullman cars so in response to
a drop in orders for rail cars the company lowered its workers wages but not the rents
it charged those workers for the company housing when a delegation of workers tried to meet with
Pullman to present their grievances he refused the meeting and ordered them fired ultimately
the board voted to strike and Pullman workers left the job on May the 11th 1894 then by June the 27th
the American Railway Union joined the Pullman Strikers in solidarity the strike became one of
American history's most significant labor actions paralyzing most railroads west of Detroit and
threatening the national economy the strike ended violently by mid-july when President Cleveland
intervened with federal troops in 1898 the Illinois supreme court ordered the Pullman company
to sell all non-industrial land Holdings in the town but the company did not comply until 1907.
surprisingly the company continued to grow despite its problems by 1900 when the company changed
its name to Pullman company after acquiring the assets of its only real competitor the main plant
had nearly 6 000 employees and produced about 14 million dollars worth of railroad cars per year
years later when the company completed this transition from wooden cars to Steel cars there
were about ten thousand workers at the Pullman plant meanwhile the company operated approximately
7 500 Passenger cars which at least complete with Porters and other workers to railroad companies
worldwide the company was reorganized in the 1920s when the workforce peaked at about 20
000 people in Pullman by 1927 a holding company called Pullman Incorporated was established to
oversee the separate divisions the Pullman car and Manufacturing Corporation the company's
manufacturing Division and the Pullman company which operated the world famous passenger cars
not all observers viewed Pullman from the same perspective for example in 1885 Richard T eley
published in expose in Harper's monthly charging that the town and its design were on American
in his opinion this condescending system took away men's rights as Citizens including the right to
control their domestic environment remember when Pullman workers went on strike in 1894 protesting
cuts and wages will rents and dividends remained unchanged the strike captured a national audience
so commentators from Across the Nation debated the true nature of relationship between employers and
employees the broader question of political social and economic rights of the working-class men and
women during the 1930s Pullman standard was the nation's largest manufacturer of freight cars and
Passenger cars however after World War II the U.S Department of Justice forced Pullman Incorporated
to sell one of its two divisions the operating company which kept the Pullman company name was
purchased by a group of railroad companies Pullman Incorporated held Pullman standard which declined
steadily throughout the 1970s this is an important moment because it was in the 1970s that Pullman
was no longer an essential manufacturer of rail cars all the same in 1977 Pullman Incorporated
still based in Chicago had significant annual revenues and employed 32 thousand
people Nationwide in 1980 Pullman Incorporated was purchased by a new hampshire-based conglomerate
and two years later Pullman Car Works closed most of its rail car manufacturing assets and
remaining freight car our plants were sold to a dallas-based Trinity Industries but with the Giant
now gone what would happen to its City Pullman's Avenues were originally named after inventors the
street names were to have changed in 1907 back when Chicago annexed Pullman however
many of the old names were still used until the 1930s for example Corliss Avenue is named after
the inventor of the Corliss engine George Henry Corliss as the cordless steam engine originally
powered the Pullman works and provided Steam Heat for the public buildings in the town Dottie Avenue
honors Dwayne Dottie the original Pullman Town manager a street that no longer exists in North
Pullman was Bessemer Avenue named after Henry Bessemer the inventor of a revolutionary steel
made method his system is still in use today lastly Cottage Grove has a long history Charles
Cleaver developed a suburb south of Chicago on the Illinois central line called cleaverville in the
1850s cleaverville eventually became the Oakland neighborhood north and west of Hyde Park Cleaver
named the streets after a Grove of Shady trees surrounding his development Cottage The Grove was
a popular meeting spot for the early settlers in subsequent years the Pullman Community experienced
changes familiar to other neighborhoods in the city ethnic succession the Aging of housing
stock and changing employment opportunities that attracted residents away from the Pullman car
works and into jobs elsewhere residents still perceived Pullman as an excellent place to live
neighborhoods maintained strong ties with one another especially the predominantly Italian
and polish ethnic communities in the neighborhoods themselves Outsiders however only saw old housing
and vacant industrial lands Pullman's reputation fell dramatically in the late 1920s and 1930s when
unemployment and bootlegging activities made it seem like a slum by then Chicago sociologists
had expanded the Pullman Community to include the largely unsettled areas between the old historic
town and 95th Street in 1960 Consultants to the South and Chamber of Commerce recommended that
Pullman be demolished between 111th and 115th to make way for industrial expansion this move would
have benefited the remainder of the Calumet region but Pullman residents fought this destruction you
see in the 1960s they reactivated the Pullman Civic organization to remove any signs of
blight and to Lobby to keep their neighborhood realizing that the community's history could
provide a very valuable wedge in the fight and so they founded the historic Pullman foundation
in 1973. Pullman was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971 and has received
similar state in local designations Pullman the original showpiece Community retains much of its
original architecture and attracts thousands of visitors each year in 1994 North Pullman
residents essentially an African-American Community achieved City Landmark status
for the area of Pullman at the same time they established a museum honoring the Pullman Porters
since then the city has joined the two separate districts into one massive Chicago Landmark area
today Pullman is a robust and historic Community committed to preserving its Heritage the historic
Pullman Foundation was formed in 1973 with a mission to expand the preservation efforts and
seek more significant resources from the outside Community one interesting moment came in 1975
when the hotel Florence and all of its original furniture and fixtures were in Jeopardy of being
sold at auction the foundation took action and with the help of George Pullman's granddaughter
was able to purchase the hotel and all of its contents for the next 25 years they worked to
restore the building and keep it open to the public the foundation also acquired several of
the town's other architectural gems Market Hall and the historic Pullman Center in 1991 the state
of Illinois purchased the hotel Florence and the Pullman Factory Clock Tower and the administration
buildings in an effort to further develop the Pullman State historic Oracle site the clock
tower was eventually transferred to the national park services both sites have undergone extensive
preservation and restoration work Pullman is home to a Vibrant Community that's rich with history
and renowned for its architecture architectures such as stunning row houses and restored company
buildings for anyone wishing to maybe go off the beaten path Chicago's Pullman neighborhood is well
worth the trip it's only a shame that we can't make that trip in a Regal Pullman Carriage hit
the Subscribe button if you agree and until next time this is Ryan silkash signing off