Private Excursion to Historic Pullman
On this fascinating Private Excursion to Pullman, explore the remarkable, pioneering concept and sightsee some fine examples of the town’s trademark Queen Anne architecture. On your tour, you will:
- Visit the historic town - experience Pullman’s strong community spirit and today’s heritage conservation projects.
- Learn about George Pullman’s dream for world-class sleeper train cars and his ambitious utopian dream-town.
- See Pullman's distinctive bricks throughout the town made from clay from Lake Calumet.
- Visit Hotel Florence and wander down the roads lined with Queen Anne architecture.
- Explore the streets that earned it National Historic Landmark District (in 1971) and US National Monument (in 2015)
- Hear stories about long-time Pullman residents, some going back as far as five generations.
The utopian community of Pullman was the brainchild of George Pullman who set out to build a town that would encourage staff retention. George Pullman was a larger than life dreamer, a public relations genius, and a progressive thinker on race relations and employment. He founded and owned the Palace Car Company and believed by offering his most talented workers a high standard of living he would have happy, productive workers who were less likely to strike.
On your Private Excursion to Pullman, your guide will drive you 14 miles south of Chicago to the 4,000 acres purchased by Pullman for the town. As you go, learn about the architect and landscaper who helped bring Pullman’s dream for America’s first master-planned community to life. Together with 531 homes for his employees, it included a new state-of-the-art plant in an orderly, clean layout. Park-like landscaping showcased handsome streets with a hotel, library, theatre, school, church, and shops ensuring workers need not travel into the city. An appealing variety of neat red brick homes each had its own yard and Pullman offered residents everything he thought they could need. He named the town Pullman Ponder Pullman’s rules governing life in the town, including a dress code that dictated what residents could wear in public, and discuss George Pullman’s decision to cut workers' wages by 25 per cent in the 1894 economic downturn - but not reduce rents.
Though a controversial figure in life, with his passing, he bequeathed over $1.2M to build a free school in the town. Today, his Queen-Anne style town today has gone through a large gentrification process, with many residents undertaking large-scale renovations to restore the homes to their original splendour. This private guided excursion to Pullman is stepping into an American time capsule and is not to be missed.
