Pullman National Historical Park Visitor Center

My husband and I went to the Pullman museum for the first time on Sunday, while Open House Chicago was going on! We enjoyed this National Park so much! It was so interesting and the grounds are beautiful! If you can stop here definitely do! Also check out the Pullman House Project across the street, there’s a little coffee shop!

We had a fantastic tour of the Pullman site. Our tour guide, Ranger Ron Rodriguez, was friendly and extremely knowledgeable about the Pullman Company, especially the Pullman Porters. Since we were from out of town, we asked for a lunch recommendation, and he suggested a local BBQ place, which was excellent. Overall, it was a wonderful experience. The only downside was that the nearby Pullman Porters Museum was under construction and closed.

Definitely worth a stop if you're in Chicago and enjoy history and/or NPS sites! The special ambient audio during the exhibits is a really nice touch. These are some of the most well-made exhibits (signage, text, fixtures, design) I've seen at a visitors center. The two rangers here today were also really nice and knowledgeable about Pullman and other local sites. Wish I could've stayed for the 2PM guided tour. Definitely plan for that if you can.

Great historical national park. The park rangers were awesome. They answered so many questions we had, and we're so excited about the work that they do. This was a great spot to learn even more about the impact the union has had on the nation. The grounds around the building are beautiful too. I look forward to their continued improvement of the facility and the park.

The District is truly beautiful and so photogenic. The museum though, while in the huge building with the clock is only a tiny space with no other areas accessible which was disappointing. No Pullman car which I would have hoped for. The displays btw have some nice educational points about discrimination as well as union and worker rights. The real beauty is the surrounding areas directly north and south of the museum. Free with plenty of free parking.

Great new National Monument. Knowledgeable and friendly staff. Although we had a short covid wait to get in, the place is nice. Hopefully someday someone will donate a Pullman car to the park. I see a lot of potential with this park. It is good to walk around and get a good understanding of the efficient manufacturing and how some employees lived in the company houses.

WoW what a difference a year makes The new/restored visitor center is very nice You can also do a self-guided or ranger tour of the property. It also does an exemplary job of representing the true Pullman. Definitely worth a stop.

Friendly and knowledgeable staff. Ranger Linda was an immense help and extremely kind. She gave us a good introduction to the site and helped us understand the additional buildings in the surrounding area. She also helped with a local ice cream recommendation. Thanks!

Truly wonderful National Historic Site as part of the National Park Services. We arrived right when a guided tour of the property had started and so glad we did. The tour guide was wonderful, we walked a lot of the grounds as we learned about the Pullman family, the history of the town and how it revolved around the building of the Pullman Railroad Cars. There is a lot about labor relations, unionizing, and fighting unfair wage cuts that probably was far reaching, not just in the train industry but across the country. Very interesting. Beautiful surrounding area of historic buildings/homes that were all part of "Pullman's " town! Inside is a nice museum with a big focus on labor relations and some nice displays of how a Pullman car may have looked and the role of porters. Definitely worth a visit if you're int he area. They do have a NPS Passport Stamp in the gift shop.

The visitor center here has an excellent exhibit. There is a very informative section about the Pullman car, with engaging set-up and a little film, along with the company and its company town. It then delves deeper into the darker underbelly hiding beneath the sleek decor - issues of class and race in the way the predominantly Black Pullman porters were treated, plus the struggle for labor rights - unions, strikes, and the eventual creation of Labor Day. The center is well located to be walkable with its neighborhood, and it made for a nice stroll until a heavy downpour chased us back to the center. The staff is very friendly and helpful. A small gift shop is located inside the visitor's center, and there is a good sized parking lot available.

Nice historic site and glad it's being preserved and hope more of it is rebuilt in time. Right now, there is a great exhibit at the visitor's center, but it would be great if more of the outer buildings were rebuilt to represent the factor conditions of the time. There is a hotel building nearby, but it is currently closed, and seeing that restored would also be great. Despite its small scale, the exhibit space is really informative and well-designed and engaging. The staff was available to answer our questions. There is a decent gift shop as well. It's not as robust as other NPS sites, but it still makes for a nice site to visit.

Came here to check out this important place in Chicago. It has a lot of history about race and labor. Pullman National Historical Park is located on the former site of the first planned industrial community in the United States. Lots of railroad cars were manufactured here. This was also the site of a strike that got violent. A long and important history about it. In 1867 George Pullman built it for the manufacturing of railroad sleeping cars just outside the Chicago city limits. The area includes the administration buildings, the Hotel Florence, and the houses for the managers and workers. In 1893 the railroad industry was hurt by a panic. Pullman maintained profits by lowering employee wages. However the rents were not decreased. They tried to use the American Railway Union to get higher wages but were ignored. Soon they went on strike but the company had enough finances to be okay for a bit. The union led a boycott on Pullman. Other railway owners combated it by having them run the mail cars. The U.S. government said not allowing the mail cars through would violate anti-trust laws. Although the strike was ended, it was the beginning of the end for the company. The land was mostly sold off by 1907, and most of the employees moved to other close by neighborhoods. In 1937 there was an agreement between the African American workers and the Brotherhood Of Sleeping Car Porters, the first such one between an African American union and a company. The Pullman Company officially ceased operations in 1969, and the factory and erecting shops were used by several steel companies and others. Good place to check out a lot of history. It's kind of hard to get to but it's worth it for sure. This has a close by Metra station if using public transportation.

The exhibit in the visitor center walks you through the formation of the company and provides you with a detailed explanation of the workers strike that crumpled the company and the prestige that was associated with the Pullman name. The government found the company had violated labor laws and classified it as a monopoly. A judgment was given to the Pullman company that directed them to sell all their land holding properties. This strike is also one of the many reasons why we have Labor Day as a federal holiday. For most of us today, we recognize the name Pullman from the hardworking African American that worked as porters on the luxury train line. The museum is outside of the downtown city limits of Chicago. So if you drive, there is plenty of free parking. Taking a rideshare service? Be prepared to pay a hefty price.

The exhibit here is a little lacking but the staff are great and the surviving buildings are really fascinating to see.

We're into the national parks and on a trip to Chicago we decided to check out Pullman NHS. I didn't know much about the place before we went, but I am interested in the Gilded Age, so I thought I would like Pullman NHS. Pullman consists of a main central building with some exhibits, ruins of the old factory, the historic hotel and some [private] houses across the street. In total, it covers a sliver of land like 20 blocks long, but most of that is inaccessible to visitors because people live there now. The exhibits tell you about Pullman the man, Pullman the company, the establishment of a company town and a strike in 1894. It was interesting, but I wish there had been more - I'd have liked to have seen a Pullman rail car (especially one of the luxurious ones they were known for), or the factory (which would be nice if they'd restored it a bit). Overall, I liked the place. I wish there had been more to it, but I'm still glad I went. I would recommend going.

This was a great museum and park. I loved many of the exhibits inside, especially the ones about organized labor and striking/strike busting. The groups get plenty of sun, so even on the right cool and windy day, you don't feel it that much. This is one of the better free things I've done in Chicago. I definitely recommend it to fans of trains, or organized labor.

This was such a great idea to visit for the yearly Chicago Open House! It is a drive-friendly place but also accessible by Metra and CTA. It's a great way to experience 2 kinds of history: Chicago and African-American! It's educational but not boring. It is informative and interactive (safely, socially distanced). It does a great job focusing on the good (steady work, community)and bad (prices and rents made certain one was always in debt) parts of what it was like to live in Pullman. I really enjoyed sitting in the actual seats and looking out a window, to see what it was like riding a train in the old days. There is one level here so you can plan to spend a couple of hours but not the whole day here. The area nearby has a park that's nice for strolling.

America's Newest National Park and a must see. You learn how one of the major industries of 1900 developed and how it eventually failed. Nice tours for about 1 hour and great fast food, Potbelly's less than 1/2 mile east of the Park.

I'm so glad I had a chance to visit here. It would have been a shame not to go while I was off work. I always head to National Monuments and Parks when out of town, so why not visit what's near me? They opened this National Monument in 2015 and I'm so glad they did. Pullman was and is a magnificent area in it's heyday and even now. The National Park service has done a great job of preserving the stories and history of the Pullman Company and area. Even the residents are nice. I took a walk through the neighborhood to locate the market square and the stables. I spoke with two residents on my neighborhood walk who were pleasant and answered my questions as well as informing me about the history of the area. If you haven't had a chance to visit, I highly suggest you go. It's free to visit and they always have events going on. They also are continuing to build the area and will soon open the Florence Hotel. Don't miss out on some of Chicago's important history!

Unique national monument consisting of historic factory buildings and 1880s-era employee housing, now a beautifully preserved and leafy neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. The brown of Pullman started as a company town, and today thee NM preserves both the heritage of the age and a unique kind of "company town", where workers were paid in cash and not scrip redeemable only at the company store. Homes here have been lovingly preserved and restored by the folks who live here - well worth National Monument status and worth a visit 5 living history stars

Cool that this era / neighborhood is being recognized / preserved. Site is relatively young so the concept is still in development and not much content built out yet. Nice rangers. Well done junior ranger program. As it currently stands, not a destination but I want to check back in a couple of years.

Visited this new national monument without knowing much about it. Learned about the tremendous impact this company had on American history; including the revolution of the transportation, the employment of former enslaved people, and the development of the Pullman neighborhood. On the day I visited, a guest speaker spoke about George Pullman and the Pullman labor strikes. Very interesting. Also took a tour with Rob who was incredibly knowledgable and provided an excellent overview of the site. We walked through the neighborhood and saw how this city was designed. It will be interesting to visit again when the Florence Hotel and new visitor center are open. I highly recommend visiting this site to understand how important it was in the development of our nation.