In the 1880s, the area now known as the Pullman neighborhood on Chicago's Far South Side was just marshland. It was there that George Mortimer Pullman, president of the Pullman Palace Car Co., decided to build an industrial town for the employees of his railroad car manufacturing firm. Business for his company was picking up after an upscale Pullman car was publicized in the funeral train of President Abraham Lincoln.

"The 'Pioneer,' the first true Pullman sleeping car, was a great advancement in comfort and convenience," writes Nancy J. Miller in Pullman: Portrait of a Landmark Community (Chicago Review Press, 1981). "Taller and wider than most other passenger cars -- at $25,000, it cost five times more to build than the average sleeper. Pullman gambled that the travelers would welcome the innovations."

Pullman decided to develop a model community superior to that available to the working class elsewhere. By so doing, he hoped to avoid strikes, attract the most skilled workers and attain greater productivity as a result of the better health, environment and spirit of his employees.

The industrialist realized the necessity of building his town so it would have accessibility to the big city markets and railroad connections throughout the entire country. The 4,000-acre tract selected for the site was along the western shore of Lake Calumet, 13 miles directly south of Chicago.

George Pullman hired architect Solon S. Beman, landscape architect Nathan F. Barrett and civil engineer Benzette Williams to translate his plans into his town. Pullman employees did the contraction.

Structures were made of brick (made from clay found in Lake Calumet) at a brickyard built south of the town for this purpose. Pullman shops produced component parts used throughout the building of the town. This project was one of the first applications of industrial technology and mass production in the construction of a large-scale housing development. The town of 1,000 homes and public buildings was completed by 1884, less than four years later.

Seven homes built in the 1880s for the employees of the Pullman Palace Car Co. will be open for viewing this weekend during the annual Pullman housewalk.

Modest narrow cottages (some just 14 feet wide) were built for unskilled laborers. Skilled craftsman resided in larger town houses. And the biggest homes were contracted for the executives of the Pullman firm.

"We'll have a cross-section of different housing types -- executive homes, skilled craftsman homes and workers cottages -- allowing visitors to see how these privately owned homes have been renovated and restored by the owners," said Cynthia Martin-McMahon, co-chair for the event.

It's the 35th annual housewalk. "Our visitors are fascinated with the variety of housing styles," she said. "They look forward each autumn to returning and spending the day with us. And we are delighted to have them."

Tours will begin at the Historic Pullman Foundation Visitor Center, 11141 S. Cottage Grove. A 20-minute introductory video will be shown every half-hour. The Mudcats Dixieland Band will perform on Sunday.

Each home in Pullman was provided with gas and water, access to complete sanitary facilities and abundant quantities of sunlight and fresh air. Front and back yards provided personal green space, while expansive parks and open lands provided larger, shared ones. Maintenance of the residences was included in the rental prices, as was daily garbage pickup.

These factors brought Pullman to be voted the world's most perfect town at the Prague International Hygienic and Pharmaceutical Exposition of 1896.

Pullman residents could conveniently go to retail stores, a bank and a library in the Arcade building. A theater and a billiard hall were there, too. "It was an early version of today's multi-use shopping mall," Miller said.

Bordering the town's park, there was a livery stable, the Greenstone Church and the Hotel Florence. The hotel provided first-class accommodations for visiting dignitaries and craftsmen.

"The hotel did have a bar, but the patronage of residents was discouraged," she said. "The sale of alcohol was forbidden."

Market Hall, a three-story building in the center of town, was the source of fresh meat and produce. It was the social center of the village, where dances and basketball games were held. Big bands played on summer evenings.

An innovation that helped win Pullman the "most perfect town" award was a complex underground sewage system. "It collected all runoff and waste and transported it to a model farm three miles away to be used as crop fertilizer," Miller writes.

In 1893, the nation suffered an economic depression. Wages were reduced by 28 percent -- but the monthly rents in the town remained the same: $8 for a three-room apartment, and $25 for an entire house.

"Pullman had often said that the company was both landlord and employer," Miller said. "He believed that since rents were not raised during prosperous times they should not be lowered during hard times." His harsh stance led to a devastating strike at Pullman.

"Many of the wives and children of the strikers also worked for the company in the laundry or the embroidery department," she said. Some quit in sympathy with the workers, and others were fired. The result was entire families with bills to be paid but no income. Hundreds left to look for work elsewhere.

In 1960, the Pullman area was threatened with demolition for the construction of an industrial park near the newly constructed Lake Calumet shipping port. Neighborhood residents galvanized to protest the demolition. The Pullman Civic Organization was formed. The residents were able to successfully halt the construction of the industrial park and save the town.

A small group of residents formed the Beman Committee, a part of the Pullman Civic Organization focused on the preservation of the architecture of the original town. Through their efforts the Town of Pullman was designated an Illinois Historic District in 1969 and a National Historic Landmark District in 1970. In 1972, the southern part of the district was designated as one of the first landmark districts by the City of Chicago. More recently, the City of Chicago amended the historic district boundaries to include both the northern and southern parts of the district.