Historic Pullman Foundation Visitor Center

Once a year, the people off Pullman put on a small festival where they open their homes. There is a fee to go, mind the tour is pretty much self-​guided. You check in at the visitor’s center, they give your a tour booklet showing where the open houses are.
This building contains a small museum and they show you a short film on the history of Pullman. The history is really interesting and has been covered in other reviews so I won’t repeat what others wrote.
There were about a dozen homes and other buildings on the list. Following the map, you go from home to home. They make a mark on your map showing you’ve been to that particular home. Since the homes were built by the Pullman company originally for rent to their workers they have several models. What you got depended on your position and what you could afford. Some were very simple, plain homes, some were extravagant.
With the exception of «the boss’s home», all are owned now by new people. Some have been updated and modernized extensively, others updated to period. It is so nice that people open their homes to the public like this. There are docents at each home there to show you around and give the history of that home and that model.
A few other items of note — when they built the community it was unlike other company towns in existence. They offered amenities for their workers that were unique — a school and a church for example. Both are things you don’t want to miss.
A few other fun things, (1) several homes set up yard/​garage sales. Some sell off old architectural pieces they removed when they updated their homes; you will also find art, house wears and general garage sale items. (2) there is one home where he turned his background into an apiary. He sets up a table in front of his home where he sells his honey and related products. Make sure to ask if you can see the apiary itself. It was fascinating. (3) There is a very large community garden in Pullman. They reclaimed land from an old paint factory. Since the ground is contaminated, they grow all of their food in raised beds. Anyone in the community can grow there, and they all share in the produce when they harvest. This is something definitely worth seeing. They rely on donations to continue their efforts, so please leave them a few dollars. (4) Ladtly, like most festivals, they have several bands. Enjoy the music.
Pullman is a piece of history absolutely worth seeing. Do yourself a favor and make sure you watch for their next festival. Go to it.

October 12 Sunday, S. and I took part in the annual House Tour here, an event for which both public buildings and private residences were opened for a weekend to public viewing and informative friendly conversation. Some very kind and gracious people acted as volunteer docents in these homes, sometimes the home owners themselves. We heartily thank them, along with the official organizers.
For a mere $ 17.00 to $ 20.00 each, visitors gained access to people’s lives as lived within and around buildings meant to act as housing for workaday line folk as well as middle and top Pullman management. All was on full display, readily visible evidences of decades of generational fashion in modernization as well as stubborn attention to maintaining originality as nearly as possible while living present day lives. One home in particular required extensive internal rebuilding after a fire had nearly gutted it, and its architect owners had made truly breathtaking changes to its interior spaces that were worthy of an Architectural Digest photo spread. Another proud homeowner displayed a lovely backyard koi pond with waterfall that water musically beckoned to all with its obvious invitation to enjoy afternoon cocktails. One open two-​flat was in the process of modernization, an apartment completed with the rest being stripped and rebuilt, which served as instruction and warning to any who might dream of making such an attempt. One could imagine the pitchforks loaded with money heaving heaping piles into the pickup trucks of widely smiling contractors.
All told, a marvelous and valuable day we wholeheartedly recommend to those of a living museum mentality.
As always, your friends in Unilocal,
Peter O. and S.

What was once a utopian community for Pullman’s workers still remains a quaint, pristine looking neighborhood full of history and interesting facts. On the fringes of the neighborhood is modern reality: railroad tracks and the urban decay of boarded-​up buildings and businesses. Think of Pullman as the cream inside of an Oreo. The cookie is the surrounding neighborhoods.
It isn’t really clear if the $ 5 admission fee is a firm admission or if it is a suggested donation. Regardless, I gave $ 10 to the lady working at the visitor center. She has lived in Pullman all of her life, and if you don’t already have some background knowledge of Pullman, she can fill you in on the basics and so much more. So you can show up here without knowing a thing and leave with some valuable knowledge. Inside the visitor center are pieces of furniture and artifacts from the Pullman era, as well as photographs and informational plaques. We were lucky that it was a fair weather, sunny day. What you really want is to have the ability to walk around the neighborhood a bit.
We did not go during their annual house tour, which I would recommend you do if you are skittish about walking around unfamiliar territory OR if you really do want to see anything and everything Pullman. They only do this one weekend of the year though.
The provided map and weather that day were all we needed to enjoy our own tour. We stopped at several points on the map including the worker’s cottages, executive housing, and the Hotel Florence. On our own, we spent about an hour here just walking around and taking pictures.
A visit to Pullman pairs perfectly with a tour at Argus Brewery. They both share a similar rich history, and driving from the suburbs just for Pullman Visitor Center may disappoint a little unless you paid for the house tour, so it’s best you pair it with Argus. It’s a must for any adult interested in Chicago history, but there isn’t really anything that will hold a child’s attention (no interactive exhibits or anything like that).
The visitor’s center is a plain white, concrete building. If you are approaching from the north, you will see the bold Pullman mural on the rear of the building. It is across the street from an auto center, what was once the Pullman stables.
We visited during the day, and I felt perfectly comfortable walking around the area with the map they provided. It’s only a few blocks, and with a map it’s fine.

Most Chicagoans know of Pullman Train Cars but forget that an entire historic neighborhood exists. [Not to mention that many Chicagoans fail to explore or acknowledge that culture and history continues past the South Loop!] This little neighborhood treasure is steps from the Pullman Metra Station and super easy to explore.
The visitor’s center and museum stands on half of the old Arcade Park (which now only half exists). They take donations to maintain the historic value of the buildings and have a great little «Pullman on Foot» guide for free (a picture is provided in business images). If you prefer something a little more organized, they offer guided tours the first Sunday of each month between May and October. Not to mention, they also have an Annual House Tour the second weekend of October offering an inside look of various private homes.
The town was constructed in 1880 in order to create housing and community facilities for the employees of George M. Pullman’s Palace Car Company. The neighborhood is architecturally unique with many structures that remain including: Administration Building and Clock Tower, Hotel Florence (under renovation), remnants of Market Hall and its’ circular promenade, Pullman Hospital, Greenstone Church, The Greystone Mansion, Arcade Park, Pullman Stables, and various housing projects for executives and craftsmen alike.
I hands-​down recommend a few sites during your visit:
–The fabulous Greenstone Church (the building materials are a rarity and were shipped from Italy).
–The abandoned Administration Building and Clock Tower across 111^th Street, and it’s walking path containing the neighborhood garden and beehives.
–Take note of the varied facades of many original, nineteenth-​century residences with often maroon and shades of green (Pullman colors) and how the buildings mirror each other from the center of the block.
Take advantage of free Chicago ventures such as Pullman!

Went here with my parents, sis & her 2 kids this weekend. Once you get off of 94 and head west about 10 blocks, you can easily see the Pullman homes and the Hotel Florence. Interstate 94 is clearly marked to show you which exit to get off. But there are no signs that we found telling you where the Visitor’s Center is, so just keep your eyes open. Once you see the Florence Hotel, head to that, and the Visitor’s Center is right there. If you cross over Cottage Grove, you’ve gone too far west.
It was a very cold february Saturday, about 1pm, but the Visitor’s Center was pretty empty. About 10 other people. You go in, watch a 20 minute movie which introduced you to the Pullman family, his town, the fall of the town, current events which led to the rise & fall pf the town. Then you can walk around and view some of the exhibits. (which takes about 15 – 20 more minutes.)
You can exit then and walk (we drove because it was so cold) around the blocks surrounding the visitors center. I was hoping the Visitor’s Center would have a mp of the «Pullman Historic area» area or something, they did not.
Regardless, the houses were all neat to look at, the church was cool– very green. And I look forward to maybe stopping by in October when they open everything for inside tours. This is a good place to spend an hour or 2 snooping around on a lazy weekend.

The Historic Pullman Foundation and the Pullman Civic Organization will be hosting its annual house tour of Pullman October 13^th and 14^th.
Tickets are $ 17 in advance and $ 20 at the door. See
for more information.
Its the biggest event of the year, and highly touted at that! (I’ll be there one day or the other!)