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Hello From Chicago Part 5 A Visit To The Pullman Historic District
hicago, Arlington House, between its black and white
Sunday, October 23, 2005, population.
6:25 am
The Pullman Historic District is
After being appropriately prepped the manifestation of a very
as a result of our visit to the interesting social experiment: It
Chicago Cultural Center we was built between 1880 and 1884
decided to head off yesterday to as a planned model industrial
visit the Pullman Historic town by George M. Pullman for the
District, a planned industrial Pullman Palace Car Company.
and residential community dating George Pullman (1831 to 1897)
back to the 1880s, on Chicago's arrived on the scene with a
South Side. design for the Pullman sleeping
carriage which he originally
In order to get there we took the developed to carry the dead body
red line all the way to the end of Abraham Lincoln to his
and then connected onto the 111 funeral. As a result the Pullman
bus. What was very interesting to Sleeping Car Company was
note was that the population on established and a whole town was
Chicago's south side is built around the business and
predominantly black, as much of named after its originator.
the black population from the US
South had migrated northwards We went to the Visitor Center and
after the 2nd World War. Actually saw an 18-minute movie that
Chicago was known as one of the described George Pullman and his
most racially segregated cities, ambitious plans for his
and today, with the demolition of development of a model community,
many of the bleak urban housing a total environment, that he
projects, the city is attempting intended to be superior to that
to create more integration available to the working class
elsewhere. By so doing, he hoped was a forerunner of the modern
to avoid strikes, attract the shopping center. The town was
most skilled workers and attain completely self-contained.
greater productivity as a result Pullman residents enjoyed the
of the better health and spirit manmade Lake Vista and plenty of
of his employees. parks and promenades, features
typically missing from Chicago's
To achieve his vision, George working-class neighbourhoods.
Pullman hired Solon S. Beaman,
landscape architect Nathan F. The town of Pullman was a model
Barrett and civil engineer, of financial efficiency. Pullman
Benzette Williams. The town was demanded that the company return
constructed by Pullman employees, an 8-percent profit and the town
using local red clay from Lake return a 6-percent profit. A huge
Calumet and component parts that engine pumped sewage from the
were produced in the Pullman town to a nearby Pullman-owned
factory. This project is one of farm, where it was used as
the first examples of industrial fertilizer for produce that would
technology and mass production in be sold back in the town.
large-scale housing. The town was
a complete planned community and George Pullman maintained
included schools, a library and ultimate control over the town,
hotel all run by the company. even restricting workers' access
to alcohol, as the Hotel Florence
Pullman's large Arcade building only sold alcohol to out-of-town
(now demolished and the present visitors. Resentment towards this
location of the Visitor Center) paternalistic despot started to
featured a restaurant, a bank, a build. Misfortune struck with the
library, a post office, a decline of the Pullman car's
theater, and numerous shops. It success which forced George to
slash wages. Workers responded inhabitants, determining that the
with a strike, fuelled by Pullman Palace Car Company did
Pullman's failure to reduce not have the proper authority to
grocery costs and rent, but provide nonmanufacturing services
George simply fired them. The such as renting property.
situation deteriorated as railway Finally, residents could buy
workers refused to handle Pullman their homes.
cars and President Cleveland had
to intervene, sending federal Robert T. Lincoln, the son of
troops to the scene. The workers President Lincoln, became head of
were forced to sign documentation the company after Pullman's death
declaring that they wouldn't join and simplified its name to the
a union. Pullman Company. The Pullman
Company continued to produce its
Although the strike collapsed, famous cars at 111th Street and
George Pullman's model for Cottage Grove Avenue. But with
handling the "labour problem" had the explosion of automobile
failed. Pullman had prided ownership, rail passenger traffic
himself on his paternalistic went into rapid decline. In 1957,
approach with his workers, and he Pullman Incorporated closed its
could not see how his plant in the neighborhood.
heavy-handed methods had resulted
in this worker rebellion. Only three years later, the city
Criticized and scorned, Pullman of Chicago included Pullman on a
died a bitter man in 1897. list of "blighted and
deteriorating areas" that
In 1898, the Illinois Supreme required clearance and
Court ordered the Pullman Company redevelopment. Residents
to sell the non-industrial land responded by forming the Pullman
in the neighborhood to its Civic Organization and began
working to gain landmark status. Florence, named after Pullman's
The Historic Pullman Foundation, favourite daughter. It opened in
which formed in 1973, helps 1881 as a hospitality showcase
ensure the area's preservation for visitors to George Pullman's
and restoration by sponsoring perfect town and originally had
various events such as 50 rooms, a dining room, a
neighborhood walking tours, billiard room, a parlor and the
annual house tours, Sunday brunch only bar in Pullman. The Historic
at the Florence Hotel, and Pullman Foundation managed to
presentations at the Pullman save the hotel from demolition
Visitor Center. and today the hotel is closed to
the public while it is undergoing
In many ways the housing a capital improvement program to
development was ahead of its restore it for use with the State
time. Each building, most of them Historic Site.
townhouses, had gas and water,
complete sanitary facilities and The Pullman Clock Tower and
abundant quantities of sunlight Administration Building was built
and fresh air, which was a rarity in 1880 for the executive offices
at that time, when the working of the Pullman Palace Car
class was mostly housed in Company, at the time one of the
squalid tenements. Originally the most beautiful industrial
town of Pullman housed about complexes in the United States.
12,000 people while today it In 1998 the Clock Tower and
still has a population of about Administration Building were
2,000, with an ethnically and seriously damaged by a fire set
economically mixed background. by an arsonist. Since then the
building has been stabilized and
Other famous buildings on the the restored Clock Tower was put
Pullman grounds include the Hotel back on just a few days before
our visit. Future use of the site
is currently being debated by a The Greenstone Church, located
task force institute by Chicago centrally in the Pullman Historic
Mayor Daley and Illinois Governor District, has an exterior facade
Ryan. of serpentine stone quarried in
Pennsylvania. The sanctuary is
Another interesting building unchanged with the exception of
located on the Pullman Historic the chancel arrangements. All of
District is the Queen Anne-style the cherry wood is original.
Market Hall which was built in Today the church is still
1881. The Market provided a venue occupied by a Methodist
for fresh fruits, meats and other congregation.
goods. The original market was
destroyed by fire in 1892 and a The visit to the Pullman Historic
new market was built on the District was very interesting. It
existing foundation. The market taught us about a different time
is surrounded by four colonnaded of ultimate laissez-faire
circular apartment buildings that capitalism, industrial growth and
were built with the new Market immigration, labour unrest, urban
Hall in 1893. Unfortunately the planning, architecture and the
Market Hall Building was ultimate failure of a rather
destroyed by fire in 1973 and unique social experiment.
today it awaits restoration.
About the Author:
Susanne Pacher is the publisher of Travel and Transitions (http://www.travelandtransitions.com), a popular web portal for unconventional travel & cross-cultural connections. Check out our brand new section featuring FREE ebooks about travel.
Read more articles by: Susanne Pacher
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