Empresas Pullman history

He founded the John A. Roebling and Sons company in 1841, after inventing a design for steel ropes that could handle a far greater amount of weight compared to a traditional rope made of hemp.

When he died in 1853, George Pullman took over the business, winning a contract with the state of New York the following year to move some 20 buildings from the path of the Erie Canal.

In 1857 Pullman opened a similar business in Chicago, where much help was needed in raising buildings above the Lake Michigan flood plain, in part to facilitate the installation of a modern sewerage system.

The Pacific Lumber Company founded a town that they originally called “Forestville” in 1863, because it was a small village erected in the middle of the woods in California.

The first real (unconverted) Pullman car—the “Pioneer,” invented jointly with Field—appeared in 1865.

In 1867 the partnership between Pullman and Field was dissolved, and Pullman became president of the newly launched Pullman Palace Car Company.

By 1870, the thriving Steinway & Sons needed more space, but the company’s success had also made it a target of labor agitators.

By 1879 the company had boasted 464 cars for lease, gross annual earnings of $2.2 million, and net annual profits of almost $1 million.

The model industrial town of Pullman, Illinois had its beginning on May 26, 1880.

In 1887, William Lever bought a huge piece of land and made a model village to make a beautiful town for the people to work in his soap factory in North-Western England, which he named Port Sunlight.

By 1892 the community was indeed profitable, with a valuation of more than $5 million.

The planned community became a leading attraction during the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and the nation’s press praised George Pullman for his benevolence and vision.

In 1894 workers at his Pullman’s Palace Car Company initiated the Pullman Strike, which severely disrupted rail travel in the midwestern United States and established the use of the injunction as a means of strikebreaking.

In the year 1900, The United States Steel Company purchased 19,000 acres in the Kentucky wilderness in order to mine coal.

In 1909, Hershey, who was childless and had a limited formal education, established a local boarding school for orphaned boys.

A 1910 factory building on the site was subsequently demolished due to the extensive damage sustained in the fire.

In 1937, Hershey chocolate factory workers organized the company’s first labor union and went on strike.

However, after the chocolate king died in 1945, Hershey survived, unlike other company towns, and chocolate is still made there today.

In 1947, the Roeblings put their town’s buildings and houses up for sale, giving their workers first priority at ownership.

In 1951, The Corning Glass Center was opened to put some of their most elaborate pieces on display.

Pullman Civic Organization - The PCO is a strong and vibrant Community Organization that has been in existence since 1960. (http://www.pullmancivic.org/)

The Historic Pullman Foundation (HPF) was formed in 1973 with a mission to expand the preservation efforts and to seek greater resources from outside the community.

Six years later, they sold the company to a new owner, who kept the plant running until 1974.

In 1975, when the Hotel Florence and all of its original furniture and fixtures were in jeopardy of being sold at auction, the HPF took action and, with the help of George Pullman’s granddaughter, Florence Lowden Miller, was able to purchase the hotel and all of its contents.

The village was sold to a private investor in the 1980’s, so anyone can live there, even if they don’t work for Unilever.

Soon afterward the company faded away, and its plants shut down; the remaining assets were sold off in 1987.

In 1991, the State of Illinois purchased the Hotel Florence and Pullman Factory Clock Tower and Administration buildings under the auspices of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA) for the development of the Pullman State Historic Site.

The North Pullman Historic District was created in 1993.

In 2001, the Corning corporation announced that one of their new business ventures had not gone as planned.

The company lasted for over 100 years but finally went bankrupt in 2008.

In 2011, the 800 residents were asked whether Scotia should be put up for sale or become a self-governing town, and the community voted for independence.

Tenants received the opportunity to buy their homes, and in 2014, Scotia’s first elected officials were sworn in.

By 2016, the population of the town had dwindled down to just 800 people, leaving thousands of vacant houses.