Station & Depot

The Hospital (11217 St. Lawrence Avenue)

This apartment building was converted to a hospital by an addition at the rear of the building and served the Pullman workers for many years.

It has been returned to its original use as a private dwelling and undergone substantial renovations.

The elevator shaft was converted into new bathrooms on each floor, and the morgue is still in the basement.

The Gasworks

Athletic Island & the Grandstand

Pullman's Athletic Island, the setting for regatas, races and other public athletic events. The brainchild of Nathan Barrett, the island was composed of fill from construction of the town and was an integral part of Pullman life until the death of George Pullman. When town maintenance decreased, the timbers rotted out soon after and the stands were demolished in 1898. It was replaced by a railroad roundhouse, Beman's last Pullman building.

The Casino

The Spanish-American Curled Hair Company

Entrepreneurial residents, according to the Daily News, March 14, 1884, formed a corporation called the Spanish-American Curled Hair Corporation. Its business was to import Spanish moss from Louisiana, clean it, process it, and sell it for mattress and furniture cushion padding. It was well capitalized, with initial assets of $100,000, including an investment of $10,000 from the Pullman Land Association (the holding company for the town of Pullman itself). The corporation actually built a factory in Pullman for $35,000. The company went out of business- and unfortunately lost all of its investors' money- because they could not compete against horsehair stuffing providers.

Ad for the Spanish-American Curled Hair Company, 1883.

Curled into Kinks. Hyde Park Herald, January 12, 1884, p. 15.

Curled into Kinks. Hyde Park Herald, March 15, 1887, p. 7.

THE PULLMAN HISTORY SITE

872.216.4858 | Website | E-Mail

More Information About the Town of Pullman

Planning the town

The Arcade Journal

The Hotel Florence

The Arcade

Arcade Park

The Stables

Market Hall

Area Churches

Area Schools

The Freight Depot and the Railway Station

Other Pullman Buildings

The Pullman House History Project

Arranged by:

 Name

 Address

 Occupation

 Birthplace

 People of Color

Maps of Pullman

Images of the Town of Pullman

All images of the town

Vistas

• Aerial views of Pullman
• Street level vistas

Art & Architecture

• Landscape architect Nathan Franklin Barrett
• Architect Solon Spencer Beman
• Henry Koopman and Family, Photographer
• Landscape Design

Pullman’s Neighborhood

• The Calumet River
• IHACCR
• Area Churches
• The Kensington Neighborhood
• Lake Calumet
• North Pullman
• The Roseland Neighborhood

Buildings in Pullman

• The Arcade Building
  • The Arcade Building
  • The Pullman Bank
  • The Library
  • Meeting Hall
  • Shops in the Arcade
  • The Theater
• Arcade Park
• Carriage House
• Casino Building
• Fire Department
• Freight Depot
• Gas Works
• The Hotel Florence
  • Exterior Views
  • Interior Views
  • Post-1975
  • History
• Hospital
• Houses
• Market Hall
• Schools
• Stable
• Train Station

Other Pullman-Related Sites

• Historic Pullman Garden Club - An all-volunteer group that are the current stewards of many of the public green spaces in Pullman. (http://www.hpgc.org/

• Historic Pullman Foundation - The HPF is a non-profit organization whose mission is to "facilitate the preservation and restoration of original structures within the Town of Pullman and to promote public awareness of the significance of Pullman as one of the nation's first planned industrial communities, now a designated City of Chicago, State of Illinois and National landmark district." (http://www.pullmanil.org/)
• National A. Philip Randolph Museum - Preserving and interpreting the memory of Randolph (http://www.aphiliprandolphmuseum.com/
• Pullman Civic Organization - The PCO is a strong and vibrant Community Organization that has been in existence since 1960. (http://www.pullmancivic.org/)
• Pullman National Monument - The official page of the Pullman National Park. (https://www.nps.gov/pull/)
• South Suburban Genealogical & Historical Society - SSG&HS holds the Pullman Collection, consisting of personnel records from Pullman Car Works circa 1900-1949. There are approximately 200,000 individuals represented in the collection. (https://ssghs.org/)
• The Industrial Heritage Archives of Chicago's Calumet Region is an online museum of images that commemorates and celebrates the historic industries and workers of the region, made possible by a Library Services and Technology Act grant administered by the Illinois State Library. (http://www.pullman-museum.org/ihaccr/)
• Illinois Digital Archives (IDA) is a repository for the digital collections libraries and cultural institutions in the State of Illinois and the hosting service for the online images on this site. (http://www.idaillinois.org/)