Pullman, Chicago
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Pullman, one of Chicago's 77 defined community areas, is a neighborhood located on the city's South Side. Twelve miles from the
Chicago Loop The Loop is Chicago's central business district and one of the city's 77 municipally recognized Community areas in Chicago, community areas. Located at the center of downtown Chicago on the shores of Lake Michigan, it is the second-largest busi ...
, Pullman is situated adjacent to Lake Calumet. The area known as Pullman encompasses a much wider area than its two historic areas (the older historic area is often referred to as " Pullman" and is a Chicago Landmark district and a
national historical park National Historic Site (NHS) and National Historical Park (NHP) are designations for officially recognized areas of nationally historic significance in the United States. They are usually owned and managed by the federal government. An NHS usually ...
. The northern annex historic area is usually referred to as "North Pullman"). The development built by the Pullman Company is bounded by 103rd Street on the North, 115th Street on the South, the railroad tracks on the East and Cottage Grove on the West. Since the late 20th century, the Pullman neighborhood has been gentrifying. Many residents are involved in the restoration of their own homes, and projects throughout the district as a whole. Walking tours of Pullman are available. Pullman has many historic and architecturally significant buildings; among these are the Hotel Florence; the Arcade Building, which was destroyed in the 1920s; the Clock Tower and Factory, the complex surrounding Market Square, and Greenstone Church. In the adjacent Kensington neighborhood of the nearby Roseland district is the home of one of the many beautiful churches in Chicago built in Polish Cathedral style, the former church of St. Salomea. It is now used by Salem
Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
Church of Chicago. In a contest sponsored by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Pullman was one of seven sites nominated for the Illinois Seven Wonders.


History


Beginnings

Historic Pullman was built in the 1880s by
George Pullman George Mortimer Pullman (March 3, 1831 – October 19, 1897) was an American engineer and industrialist. He designed and manufactured the Pullman (car or coach), Pullman sleeping car and founded a Pullman, Chicago, company town in Chicago for t ...
as workers' housing for employees of his
railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
car company, the Pullman Palace Car Company. He established behavioral standards that workers had to meet to live in the area and charged them rent. Pullman's
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
, Solon Spencer Beman, was said to be extremely proud that he had met all the workers' needs within the neighborhood he designed. The distinctive rowhouses were comfortable by standards of the day, and contained such amenities as indoor plumbing, gas, and sewers.


Pullman Strike

During the depression that followed the
Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States. It began in February 1893 and officially ended eight months later. The Panic of 1896 followed. It was the most serious economic depression in history until the Great Depression of ...
, demand for Pullman cars slackened. The Pullman company laid off hundreds of workers and switched many more to pay-per-piece work. This work, while paying more per hour, reduced total worker income. Despite these cutbacks, the Company did not reduce rents for workers who lived in the town of Pullman. Workers initiated the
Pullman Strike The Pullman Strike comprised two interrelated strikes in 1894 that shaped national labor policy in the United States during a period of deep economic depression. First came a strike by the American Railway Union (ARU) against the Pullman Company' ...
in 1894, and it lasted for 2 months, eventually leading to intervention by the US government and military. The Strike Commission, set up in 1894, ruled that the aesthetic features admired by visitors had little monetary value for employees.


Incorporation into Chicago

After George Pullman died in 1897, the Illinois Supreme Court required the company to sell the town because operating it was outside the company's charter. In 1899, the town and other major portions of the South Side were annexed by the city of Chicago. Within ten years, the city sold the houses to their occupants. After the
strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...
, Pullman gradually was absorbed as a regular Chicago neighborhood, defined by distinguishing
Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the st ...
. But the fortunes of the neighborhood continued to rise and fall with the Pullman Company for many years.


Deindustrialization

With industrial and railroad restructuring beginning in the 1950s, many jobs were lost in the city. The neighborhood gradually declined along with work opportunities and income. People began to move to newer housing in the suburbs. In 1960 the original Town of Pullman, approximately between 103rd and 115th Streets, was threatened with total demolition for an industrial park. Forming the Pullman Civic Organization, the residents lobbied the city and saved their community. It reached its peak of population in 1970.


Revival

By 1972 the Pullman Historic District had obtained National, State, and City landmark status to protect the original 900 rowhouses and public buildings built by George Pullman. (It was designated a
National Historic Landmark District A National Historic Landmark District (NHLD) is a geographical area that has received recognition from the United States Government that the buildings, landscapes, cultural features and archaeological resources within it are of the highest signific ...
in 1969 and listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. In 1970 it was designated as a State landmark by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency; and in 1972, South Pullman was declared a City of Chicago Landmark). To protect the character of the historic districts, the city has established guidelines for new building and renovation, administered by the City of
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. These are explained in the ''Beman Committee's Homeowner's Guide'' (the committee is named after Pullman's original architect, Solon Spencer Beman). The district was designated the Pullman National Monument under President Obama in February 2015 and re-designated a national historical park in December 2022.


Demographics

The Pullman community area is a predominantly
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, older community area, though this is not consistent among each of its neighborhoods. According to a June 2017 analysis by the
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) (est. 2005) is a metropolitan planning organization (MPO) responsible for comprehensive regional transportation planning in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties in nor ...
, there were 6,501 people and 2,894 households in Pullman. The racial makeup of the area was 7.1%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 82.8%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.5% Asian, 1.1% from other races. Residents who identified as
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 8.5% of the population. In the area, the population's age distribution was spread out, with 23.6% under the age of 19, 20.8% from 20 to 34, 19.6% from 35 to 49, 20.2% from 50 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years compared to a citywide figure of 33 years. The Pullman neighborhood is 29% White, 31% African American, and residents of any race who identify as Hispanic or Latino comprise 36% of the neighborhood's 1,422 residents. By contrast, 96% of North Pullman's 1,995 residents are African American and 98% of Cottage Grove Heights' 3,084 residents are African American.


Media and entertainment

Pullman has been featured in several major motion pictures. '' Road to Perdition'' (starring
Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
and
Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...
) was filmed in historic Pullman, with scenes featuring the factory and how it "once was" with workers, as well as many other scenes of the neighborhood. The 1993 film '' The Fugitive'' had several key scenes in Pullman.
Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. Regarded as a cinematic cultural icon, he has starred in Harrison Ford filmography, many notable films over seven decades, and is one of List of highest-grossing actors, the highest-gr ...
was featured in a local bar, next running down an alley, and over the tops of several Pullman rowhouses. In April 2007, Universal Studios filmed '' The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', which also featured several scenes in Pullman. Scenes from '' The Polar Express'' at the
North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
were based on Pullman architecture.
Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...
emerges from a building based on the Pullman Company Administration Building; other buildings were based on the architectural style in Pullman.
Robert Zemeckis Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an American filmmaker known for directing and producing a range of successful and influential movies, often blending cutting-edge visual effects with storytelling. He has received several accolades incl ...
, who directed the movie, grew up in the Roseland neighborhood near Pullman. On November 12, 2006, Historic Pullman was the topic of the
HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. HGTV Dream Home is an ...
television show ''National Open House,'' which featured a Pullman house at 112th Street and Langley.


Politics

Pullman is a stronghold for the Democratic Party. In the Presidential Election of 2020, Joe Biden won the Pullman District with 445 votes, with 21 cast for Donald Trump and five for third party candidates. In the 2016 presidential election, Pullman cast 3,123 votes for
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
and cast 100 votes
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
. Despite winning 94.92% of the vote, it was Clinton's 25th largest share of the vote by percentage in the 76 community areas she won in heavily Democratic Chicago. In the 2012 presidential election, Pullman cast 3,521 votes for
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
and 77 votes for
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...
. Despite winning 97.43% of the vote, it was Obama's 25th largest share of the vote by percentage in the 76 community areas he won in heavily Democratic Chicago. At the local level, Pullman is located in Chicago's 8th and 9th wards represented by Democratic Alderwoman Michelle Harris and Democratic Alderman Anthony Beale respectively.


Transportation

Pullman is served by two
Metra Electric Line The Metra Electric District is an electrified commuter rail line owned and operated by Metra which connects Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Station), in downtown Chicago, with the city's southern suburbs. As of 2018, it is the fif ...
stations; Kensington/115th Street station and Pullman/111th Street station. Most
Metra Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 train station, stati ...
suburban express trains passing through the area stop at the 115th Street station, and only local trains stop at the 111th Street station.


Notable people

* Robert Fioretti, member of the
Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the Law and government of Chicago, government of the Chicago, City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 Wards of the United States, wards to serve four-year t ...
(2007-2015). Fioretti, who represented a ward on the West Side, was born in Pullman. * Mark Konkol, journalist and winner of the 2011
Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting The Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting is awarded to an example of "significant issues of local or statewide concern, demonstrating originality and community connection". This Pulitzer Prize was first awarded in 1948. Like most Pulitzers the winn ...
. As of 2007, he resided in the Pullman community. * Darrell Walker, professional basketball player. He attended school in Pullman.


Education

Pullman is located in City of Chicago School District #299 and City Colleges of Chicago District #508. Pullman is zoned to the following elementary schools; Schmid Elementary School, Wendell Smith Elementary School, Edgar Allan Poe Classical School, and George M. Pullman School. The majority of Pullman is zoned to the Pullman located Corliss High School, while some the northeastern area is zoned to Harlan Community Academy High School in nearby ChathamHS Far South
"
Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment, fourth-large ...
. August 16, 2009. Retrieved on December 19, 2016.
The main campus of Olive-Harvey College, part of the City Colleges of Chicago system is located in Pullman.


See also

*
Granite City, Illinois Granite City is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States, within the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. The population was 27,549 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the third-largest city in the Metro East and S ...
(another company town) * Marktown (another company town) * West Pullman, Chicago (adjacent neighborhood where workers fled the Pullman town's grip) * List of African-American neighborhoods * History of African Americans in Chicago


Notes


References


Further reading

*Buder, Stanley. ''Pullman: An Experiment in Industrial Order and Community Planning, 1880 - 1930''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1967.


External links

*
nventory of the Frank H. Beberdick Pullman Collection
at th
Newberry LibraryOfficial City of Chicago Pullman Community MapPullman State Historic Site''The 77: A City of Neighborhoods - Pullman and Roseland'', Choose Chicago
{{authority control Community areas of Chicago South Side, Chicago Company towns in Illinois Populated places established in 1880 1880 establishments in Illinois Solon Spencer Beman buildings Utopian communities in the United States