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The only Chicago neighborhood that is also a national park: George Pullman’s 1880s company town, its brick rowhouses and Clock Tower restored, with Metra Electric service downtown and some of the most approachable landmark ownership in the city.
Pullman was built all at once in the 1880s as the model town for the Pullman Palace Car Company, designed by architect Solon Beman down to the last rowhouse. The factory Clock Tower at 111th, restored as the national park visitor center, anchors the north end; the Hotel Florence and Arcade Park anchor the residential blocks; Cottage Grove and 111th carry the daily life.
The Metra Electric line runs express-fast to Millennium Station with stops at Pullman/111th and Kensington/115th.
Arcade Park sits at the center of the rowhouse blocks the way Beman drew it, and Gately Park just north pairs ball fields with the park district’s indoor track and field facility. The Pullman national park grounds themselves, factory yard included, host tours and programs through the year.
The housing is the attraction: original 1880s brick rowhouses in a protected landmark district, from compact workers cottages to the larger officer houses near the hotel. Prices remain among the most approachable of any landmark district in the country, and the neighborhood association is famously active in keeping restorations true.
Landmark rules govern exterior work, so read our old-home guide, then ask us what approvals look like in practice; the answer is friendlier than most buyers expect.
The Pullman House Tour each October has opened private rowhouses to visitors for more than fifty years, the national park runs factory and district tours in season, and the Labor Day weekend marks the neighborhood’s railroad and labor history.
Check our events calendar for current dates.
An easy first errand in a new place, each checked as open when this guide was last updated.
Lexington Betty Smokehouse · 756 E 111th St · map
Award-winning barbecue a block from the Clock Tower, grown from a food-hall stall into the neighborhood table.
The Clock Tower visitor center · 11001 S Cottage Grove · map
Start any Pullman day here; the free exhibits explain every brick you will walk past.
Written by our team, free, no sign-in.
Owning in a national park is a real thing here, at prices that surprise people. Tell us what you are looking for and we will walk the rowhouses with you.
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