Pullman community looks forward to economic revival

Twelve miles south of downtown Chicago and more than a century ago, the Pullman community was in a class by itself. Built in the early 1880s by George Pullman, owner of the railroad car company, the Pullman Palace Car Company, the 4,000-acre area ran sout

Twelve miles south of downtown Chicago and more than a century ago, the Pullman community was in a class by itself.

Built in the early 1880s by George Pullman, owner of the railroad car company, the Pullman Palace Car Company, the 4,000-acre area ran south from 103rd to 115th Streets, and east to west between Cottage Grove Avenue and the now-Bishop Ford Freeway.

Pullman wanted his railroad company to anchor the self-made community where he also owned homes and factory and retail establishments.

The industrial town was also known for its historic and architecturally significant buildings, such as Hotel Florence, the now burned down Arcade Building and the Clock Tower and Factory.

In Pullman, you could live, work and play.

But about a decade later, Pullman and his bustling, independent town fell on hard times. A depression in the 1890s sank his fortune, and he was forced to lay off hundreds.

He died in 1897 and the courts forced the sale of the district to the City of Chicago. Then the neighborhood started to decline in the 1950s.

Eager to save the community’s prized architectural buildings, concerned residents formed the Pullman Civic Organization to save the neighborhood. The group fought for city, state and national landmark status to protect the neighborhood’s original row houses and public buildings built by Pullman, said an official with the PCO.

Pullman received National Historic Landmark District designation in 1971.

Now, decades later, with a population of nearly 88,000 and a median income of $30,000, the district is not as robust as it once was.

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