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| Pullman House Project posted As Pullman entered the 20th Century, the factory complex adapted to meet the demands of a changing rail industry. In 1908, the south wing of the Pullman Administration Building was enlarged to accommodate the manufacturing of larger and more modern train cars. The expansion helped keep Pullman competitive in a rapidly evolving marketplace. But the changes came at a cost. The construction added two massive bays to the front of the Administration Building. These oversized additions overwhelmed the original composition of the façade and visually dwarfed the iconic Clock Tower, altering the careful balance that architect Solon Beman had designed decades earlier. In a dramatic twist of history, that enlarged south wing was completely destroyed in the 1998 fire that gutted much of the Clock Tower. Fortunately, the North Wing had never been altered and survived, preserving an important portion of the building’s original architectural integrity. Today, the site reflects layers of ambition, loss, and resilience, reminding us how Pullman has continually evolved through both progress and preservation. |
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| Pullman House Project posted After capturing national attention at the Centennial Exposition in 1876, the massive Corliss Engine found a new home in Pullman just a few years later. In 1880, this 700-ton marvel was transported from Providence to Chicago in an extraordinary journey requiring 35 train cars. On April 5, 1881, a crowd gathered as Miss Florence Pullman stepped forward and turned the valves, bringing the Pullman Car Works to life for the very first time. As the great flywheel began to spin, it marked the start of one of the most important industrial operations in the country. More than 140 years later, that moment still echoes as a symbol of innovation, ambition, and the spirit that built Pullman. |
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| Friends of Pullman National Historical Park posted The Pullman Administration Building complex, constructed in the early 1880s, stands at the corner of East 111th Street and South Cottage Grove Avenue. Originally stretching nearly 700 feet in length, the red face brick structure was organized into a central section with flanking wings and projecting pavilions. The center section housed three floors of offices for the Pullman Car Works and served as the administrative heart of the factory complex. Rising above the main entrance is the building’s most recognizable feature, the clock tower. Soaring about 120 feet above the great entrance arch, the tower is richly detailed with patterned brickwork, stone trim, and tall arched openings that emphasize its vertical form. The large clock faces, visible from across the factory grounds and surrounding neighborhood, once helped mark the rhythm of the workday for thousands of Pullman employees. Designed by architect Solon S. Beman, the tower was not just functional but symbolic. Its commanding height and careful architectural detailing gave the industrial complex a sense of dignity and civic presence, making the Pullman Clocktower one of the most enduring landmarks of Pullman National Historical Park. |
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| Paul Petraitis posted Pullman erecting shops ca 1885 [Note the ornate shelter for the transfer table operator.] |
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| Paul Petraitis commented on the above posting |
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| This photo was moved to "Pullman Works Transfer Table." |
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| Bill Molony posted Ten new bi-level commuter coaches for the Chicago & North Western Railway, under construction at Pullman-Standard's Pullman Car Works in Chicago, 1966. Carl Venzke posted |
The Pullman Neighborhood was designated a National Historic Monument in 2015.
A timeline of the Pullman Works starts in 1879. But Pullman had already made a fortune jacking up buildings in downtown Chicago when the streets were raised so that an effective sewer system could be built. But after all of the buildings were jacked up, he was out of a job. So he started making railroad cars and providing sleeper service. Unfortunately, I cannot find a map as to exactly where his factory and town was. It was approximately between the Illinois Central tracks and Calumet Lake. Here is what the area looked like in 1938.
Update:
A timeline of the Pullman Works starts in 1879. But Pullman had already made a fortune jacking up buildings in downtown Chicago when the streets were raised so that an effective sewer system could be built. But after all of the buildings were jacked up, he was out of a job. So he started making railroad cars and providing sleeper service. Unfortunately, I cannot find a map as to exactly where his factory and town was. It was approximately between the Illinois Central tracks and Calumet Lake. Here is what the area looked like in 1938.
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| 1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP |
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| Chuck Edmonson posted The eastern side of the old Pullman car erecting shops. Sixteen bays where the cars went through an assembly line type process. As the specific work was done in bay, the car was rolled out then moved horizontally 20 feet, via a dolly system to the next bay, and into the adjoining bay. The process was repeated until a completed car, minus a paint job, sat in the last bay. Painting was done at a separate paint shop, as the dust in the car erecting shops was pretty bad at times. Richard Fiedler I believe by "dolly" you mean transfer table. A transfer table ran horizontally on 4 or more rails and could move cars between the bays. Chuck Edmonson Thanks, Richard having a senior moment here Stephen White House tour dates are October 7-8 this year . But neighborhood tours go on all the time . Stop by the visitors center at is 11141 s Cottage grove. Lots of changes coming for the factory over the next couple of years . The actual factory tours are on the first and third sundays of each month from now till late fall . At 11:15 . Come see us and our community. Jeff Bloomdahl Updated information on the area! https://www.dnainfo.com/.../pullman-national-monuments... |
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| The Rail Way posted Ruins of the rear erecting shop, Pullman works, Pullman, Illinois, 11 May 2022. When the Pullman Palace Car Company moved to its works to South Chicago in 1880, its founder, George Pullman, built a magnificent works on a 4000 acre site, which by 1884 also included more than 1000 houses for the company’s employees and their families. The works closed in 1968 and the Pullman company later sold to Bombardier Transportation. Designated the Pullman National Monument in 2015, a visitor center was opened in the former administration building and clocktower in 2021. The south wing of the front erecting shops has been demolished and is now landscaped as a park while the rear erecting shop (this picture) remains as a ruin. Kevin Adams: No mention of the pullman strike of 1894 where he slashed wages in half, yet kept rent and company store prices at 100% causing a strike that left 30 strikers murdered by troops? The Rail Way: Kevin Adams Terrible, an important story that needs to be told. Thanks for the reminder. I have more photos here, and will add in a future post. William Cope shared Where once the most luxurious passenger trains where built. (My photo) Eric Elbe: There has been talks about restoring that building back to its former glory. That structure was damaged in 2015 by arson. Terrence J. Quandt: The bases for the Pullman cars were built in Michigan City at the Haskell and Barker Car Company. The factory was located on the property that includes the Lighthouse Shopping Mall. The Barker Mansion is located a block east of Lighthouse Mall on 10th Street and is open for tours. |
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| 3D Satellite |
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| Bill Molony shared |
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| Paul Petraitis shared We are looking north...to the left is the ICRR embankment dating from 1915, to the right is Pullman's Hotel Florence built in 1881 and a sign announcing the proposed VFW hall to built on that site (today serving as the Pullman visitors' center) in the center is the track for the surface line...when was the embankment added to, that is extended eastward ? Daniel Bovino photo Chicago Surface Lines Cummings streetcar #3381 near the south end of route #4 the Pullman neighborhood on February 2nd, 1952. The Hotel Florence is in the background. David Daruszka The streetcar line was extended along Cottage Grove to 115th Street in July of 1910. |
I worked at Pullman Standard on 111th from '75 to '78. Snuck my camera in one day and snapped some pics of one of the last big orders out of that building, NYC subway cars. This was way before the days of CNC machine tools which is my world now. Lots of guys beating on steel with hammers and presses. We called ourselves "whitesmiths" LOL!Danny Halama I worked there in 75 in what they called the stands and then was placed in what they called upside down as a fitter.Good guys to work with.
Mike Rusnak The "Stands" look like pictures 2 and 4. It was quite the place to work, good money too. Too bad the strike in 77-78 killed it.
Danny Halama That one picture looked like water test. My friend Rich Forbes worked in that department.
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| Steve S Czajkowski posted Looking southwest from the Pullman clock tower at 111th and Cottage Grove Ave. A Illinois Central Gulf local freight heads north July 1977. Bob Lalich That is a perspective I have not seen before! Thanks for sharing! [Before there were drones, there were clock towers.] |
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| Illinois Central Railroad Scrapbook posted
Seventy five years ago, on December 18, 1940, the "City of Miami" entered service between Chicago and Miami on a hot 29 1/2 hour schedule. The seven car train was pulled by E6A 4000 and consisted of baggage/dorm/coach "Bougainvella", coaches "Camellia", "Japonica", "Hibiscus", and "Poinsettia", plus dining car "Palm Garden" and tavern-lounge-observation "Bamboo Grove".
The "City of Miami" was part of an effort by 9 railroads to offer a coordinated daily, all-coach service between Chicago and Miami. This service was to be operated by three different trains (the "City of Miami", "South Wind", and "Dixie Flagler") operating over three different routes. These trains operated every third day. Thus, each day there was a train running between Chicago and Miami. Each day a train departed Chicago at 9:40 a.m. and arrived in Miami at 4:10 p.m. the next day. Northbound, a train left Miami at 6:25 p.m. and arrived in Chicago at 10:55 p.m.
In a rare move, these trains were highly standardized. Fares were the same on all three trains ($23.25 one-way) along with menu prices (50 cents for breakfast, 60 cents for lunch or dinner). All three trains had 7 cars and were coach only.
The trainset for the "City of Miami" was owned by the IC, while the Pennsy owned the "South Wind" trainset and the FEC owned the "Dixie Flagler" train.
E6A 4000, owned by the IC, pulled the train between Chicago and Jacksonville. Then between Jacksonville and Miami the train was powered by FEC E3A 1001.
As with most IC passenger equipment, the "City of Miami" train was built by Pullman-Standard, who also took care of styling the train both inside and outside.
This photo of E6A 4000 and the train were taken at P-S's plant on November 25, 1940, shortly before the train was delivered to the IC.
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- City of Miami and Seminole: IC to Birmingham, CofG to Albany, ACL into Florida
- South Wind: Pennsy to Louisville, L&N to Montgomery, ACL to Jacksonville.
- Dixie Flagler: C&EI to Evansville; L&N to Nashville; NC&SL to Atlanta; Atlanta, Birmingham & Coast to Waycross; ACL to Jacksonville.
The trains split in Jacksonville to take the ACL to Tampa/St. Pete and the FEC to Miami. The 1963 FEC strike forced the Miami leg to use SAL.
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| Rastislav Jendrek commented on the above posting green, yellow, red and black |
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| BlockClubChicago (source) $56 Million Pullman National Monument Overhaul Has ‘Turned The Lights Back On’ In Historic South Side Neighborhood [The project is scheduled to open in 2021. The cleanup of the 11-acre factory grounds cost $34m. "Right now, more than 15,000 people visit Pullman every year. Wilson estimates that number will grow to 300,000 once everything is finished, due largely to its national park designation. When visitors come to the historic site, they’ll learn how industrialist George Pullman’s ambitious experiment to solve poverty and unemployment set the stage for what would become one of the most violent labor uprisings in history."] |
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| Pullman National Monument, National Park Service posted Machines of Pullman While the town of Pullman was known for its architectural sophistication and high standards of sanitation its factory was equally impressive. Helping power the equipment in the factory was the Corliss Engine. Named after the inventor George Henry Corliss. Its effectiveness was on display at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 providing power for running the machinery at the exposition. Seeing its effectiveness Pullman purchased the engine to power car shop operations. As technological advancements progressed by the early 1900s the engine was scrapped after electricity replaced steam as the power source for the factory Photo left to right: Corliss Engine at International Exhibition, Philadelphia1876 and Corliss Engine building at Pullman Factory. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress and Pullman State Historic Site  |
See Pullman Depot for a 1900 view of the factory in the background.
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| safe_image for Visitor center opens at Pullman National Monument, Sep 3, 2021 |
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| safe_image for A Look at the Pullman National Monument Ahead of its Labor Day Weekend Opening [Includes a 7 min. video] |
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| safe_image for The Rise and Fall of the Sleeping Car King |
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| safe_image for Pullman National Monument celebrates worker history at Labor Day weekend grand opening |
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