Friends of Pullman National Historical Park

06/02/2026

Our town continues to grow, evolve, and improve, and we’re working to capture updated images of some of Pullman’s most important places.

On June 2, drone filming will be taking place around Market Hall and several other historic properties in Pullman. We wanted to give residents a heads up in advance.

As preservation, restoration, and investment continue across the neighborhood, we’re documenting these changes and creating new visuals that reflect Pullman today and where we’re headed next.

In the meantime, enjoy this reel featuring footage from 2021 and a look at how far we’ve come.

Thank you for your patience and support as we continue telling Pullman’s story.

05/31/2026

The Pullman Casino stood just south of the Pullman Stables and north of the Pullman School. Designed by Solon S. Beman, it served several practical and community purposes within the company town. According to Marguerite Doty’s 1893 book, The Town of Pullman: Its Growth with Brief Accounts of Its Industries, the building housed repair shops for the town on the first floor, while the second floor was used for lodge rooms, a photography studio, and by the Methodist Episcopal Church Society, which counted about 125 families who worshiped there. Like many of Pullman’s monumental buildings, the Casino was heated by steam supplied from boilers at the car shops. The structure was photographed by J. W. Taylor and was demolished around 1920.

05/30/2026

Two workers steady a massive train wheel, their strength and precision helping power an industry that kept America moving. Scenes like this defined the rise of industrial America, where skilled labor and innovation transformed raw materials into the backbone of a growing nation.

As we approach America’s 250th birthday, Pullman stands as a reminder that progress was built not just by visionaries, but by the hands of workers whose daily efforts shaped the country’s future, a story preserved today at Pullman National Historical Park.

05/29/2026

This remarkable aerial view of Pullman, likely taken in the 1930s or 1940s, captures the vast scale of the Pullman factory complex and the surrounding company town before construction of the Calumet Expressway in 1950. Railroad tracks slice through the foreground while the sprawling shops, worker housing, and industrial yards stretch across the landscape. Beyond the factories, the open marshlands and undeveloped land of the Calumet region still dominate the horizon, offering a glimpse of a very different South Side long before the arrival of modern expressways and postwar development.

05/28/2026

This rare photograph captures everyday life outside the Pullman Clocktower after Lake Vista had been filled in by 1899, when the Illinois Central elevated its tracks and extended Cottage Grove Avenue through the former lake bed. Families and children gather casually along the walkways while the original Administration Building rises behind them, before the large 1908 addition expanded the complex. In the background, smoke drifts from the factory smokestack, a reminder that Pullman was both an industrial powerhouse and a carefully planned community where work, family life, and public space were closely connected.

05/27/2026

Shot in 1968 by a local high school student, this silent 8mm film captures Pullman at a pivotal moment in its history. Moving between historic photographs and contemporary scenes, the film documents Market Hall, Hotel Florence, Greenstone Church, the Pullman Clocktower, and the fading industrial landscape of the town. The haunting finale climbs inside the neglected Clocktower itself, revealing rusted machinery, broken windows, exposed beams, and sweeping rooftop views before ending quietly on the clock face.

This silent 8 mm black-and-white film, created in 1968 by a local h...

05/26/2026

This ABC News segment covered the unveiling of a new mural at 109th Street and Cottage Grove honoring the legacy of the Pullman Porters, the Black railroad workers whose service, professionalism, and organizing efforts helped shape American labor and civil rights history. Sponsored by the National Parks Foundation and Southern Pacific Railroad, the artwork celebrates the enduring impact of the porters and aired on May 17, 2023

This is a ABC news segment about the unveiling of a new mural at 109th Street and Cottage Grove. The artwork was sponsored by the National Parks Fou...

05/25/2026

By 1960, as Pullman approached its 80th year, decades of heavy use and deferred maintenance left many homes labeled deteriorating or dilapidated. With more than half of the houses south of 111th Street meeting that standard, Chicago’s Urban Renewal Program put the entire historic town at risk of demolition.

Learn more about how Pullman residents saved the community from demolition in 1960 on our guided tours from our partner The Pullman House Project. https://pullmanhouseproject.eventbrite.com.

As we mark America’s 250th, Pullman stands as a powerful story of preservation.

05/25/2026

Step off the main streets and see Pullman in a whole new way.

Behind the Facade: Pullman’s Alley Tour takes you into the overlooked spaces that quietly shaped life in Pullman National Historical Park. These aren’t just back alleys—they were part of a carefully planned system that reveals how the town really worked, from daily routines to bigger ideas about order, design, and control.

Chicago may be known as the alley capital of America, but nowhere tells that story quite like Pullman.
Sunday, May 24 at 1 PM Starts at Pullman Exhibit Hall Come see the stories hiding in plain sight.

Link in the comments.

05/23/2026

Julian Jackson, then Executive Director of the Friends of Pullman National Historical Park, joined Pullman resident and former Pullman worker Al “Pullman Al” Quiroz on WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” to discuss proposed funding for the historic Hotel Florence. The segment aired on May 18, 2023.

HPF's Executive Director Julian Jackson and Pullman National Historical Park resident Al "Pullman Al" Quiroz appeared on WTTW's "Chicago Tonight" to talk abo...