Main Street is providing planning and design of exterior interpretive graphics and signage for a new urban National Park at the site of the former Pullman Palace Car Works on Chicago’s south side. Here, in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, industrialist George Pullman pursued unprecedented innovations in rail car manufacturing and operations, urban planning and design, and workforce management.

Custom site signage design directions evoke the iconic roofline profile of Pullman passenger rail coach cars, and the classic colorways Pullman used on company owned worker housing. Uprights and armatures for interpretive graphic units are fabricated from recycled railroad track. Vintage photographs help to bring to life the sprawling, bustling complex once anchored by the remaining iconic clocktower building. Pullman is an open site, with neighborhood residents welcome to pass through. Exterior interpretation provides historical background and context in an accessible, user-friendly style.